The day UF admissions released its decisions for freshmen applications was the day Stephanie Latour had been waiting for. UF was her dream school, and she couldn’t wait to see the results.
But when she opened the admissions letter, she got an answer she didn’t expect.
The letter told her she was not offered admission to the program she applied for, but she was instead offered admission into UF’s Pathway to Campus Enrollment program, where students must first complete 60 credits in UF Online before they can transition to the UF residential campus.
“I was kind of disappointed at first,” Latour, 18, said. “I took it as a rejection.”
That was the first time she had ever heard about the PaCE program, but after doing some more research and speaking to a UF adviser, Latour decided to accept the offer.
“I think the major difficulty was the lack of understanding on the part of the students given the opportunity,” said Andrew McCullough, the associate provost of teaching and technology.
For many students and parents, the decision letter was the first time they had ever heard of the program, he said.
Out of the 3,118 offered admission for PaCE, only 273 accepted the offer, said Andrea Felder, the director of freshman and international admissions.
“We have already made changes,” she said.
This year’s applicants will be more aware of their options, she said.
For Latour, accepting PaCE admission was the best option. She graduated high school with a lot of college credits, so she would only have to spend the minimum of two semesters taking online classes before being able to transition to campus.
If she decided to go with a different university and transfer to UF later, that would take at least two years, and she still wouldn’t be guaranteed admission into her dream school, she said.
“The underlying rationale was to provide access to those who would like to become a Gator but were not admitted in the residence program because we ran out of space,” McCollough said.
While taking the online portion of the program, PaCE students will pay the UF Online tuition amount, which is 75 percent of the cost of regular tuition. Once they transition to campus, they will begin to pay regular tuition, Felder said.
While the program offers more than 60 majors from seven colleges at UF, it provides less flexibility when it comes to switching majors
If PaCE students decide to switch majors, they need to choose a major offered by PaCE or UF Online. Those who otherwise major in programs outside of PaCE must apply to UF as a regular transfer after completing their online credits.
“It’s definitely not for everybody,” Latour said. “To do it, you definitely have to be clear in what you want.”
- College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
- College of Design, Construction and Planning
- College of Journalism and Communications
- College of Health and Human Performance
- College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- College of the Arts
- Warrington College of Business Administration
