A survey released Wednesday by Online Colleges ranked UF as No. 1 in a list of online college education programs for 2018-2019 in Florida.
Kathy Harper, associate director of marketing and communications for UF Online, said the ranking can be credited to the program’s affordability and the benefits of being a UF student.
UF has offered online programs since the late 1990s, but it wasn’t until 2014 that UF Online was established through legislative initiatives that provide special funding for the online program, Harper said.
UF Online’s tuition is 25 percent less than on-campus tuition, Harper said. Online students are also exempt from certain fees that campus students pay.
Like traditional students, online students also have access to resources at the Career Connections Center, formerly called the Career Resource Center.
Ja’Net Glover, senior director for career services at the CCC, said the center made it a priority to ensure it has an online presence and has hosted about 70 virtual events in the past year alone.
Virtual career fairs allow employers to post information about their company and available positions, then chat, or video chat, with students online, she said.
“We wanted to make sure that students and employers still have the ability to have that face-to-face connection,” Glover said.
Harper said UF Online students have been given greater access to “all the fantastic things that are a part of UF as a top 10 university.
“Even if they’re not right here in Gainesville, they can feel a part of it, and have a great student experiences,” Harper said.
Follow Sloan Savage on Twitter @sloanasavage and contact her at ssavage@alligator.org.
