With about 60,000 undergraduates, 13 colleges and over 110 bachelor's degree programs, the University of Central Florida is one of the largest universities in the U.S. Appropriately enough, given its name, UCF spreads across the middle of Florida.
Greek life is popular on campus, with roughly 30 sororities and fraternities, and there are more than 650 student clubs and organizations. The school's Knights compete in the NCAA Division I. (The school joined the competitive Big 12 Conference in 2023). Students come from every state and 148 countries; they also visit many countries with study abroad options in locales like Ecuador, Switzerland, Azerbaijan and Germany.
UCF is considered a leader in a wide range of fields such as optics, modeling and simulation, engineering, computer science, education, biomedical sciences, hospitality management and digital media. Its main campus in sunny Orlando feels like a city, complete with a Barnes & Noble, Chick-fil-A and Smoothie King.
According to Money’s calculations, the estimated net price of a UCF degree — before taking into consideration federal and state aid — is just over $108,000, significantly less than the average among schools in our 2025 ratings. Plus, UCF’s six-year graduation rate (74%) is slightly higher than predicted based on the student body, Money finds.
