Research brief & institution hub

University of Florida

FLLarge public institution · Overall rank #29 nationally

Data snapshot September 27, 2026Updated October 1, 2026

Azimuth ranks University of Florida #29 among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

The fit is clearest for a student who wants a large public campus in Florida and expects to work after the degree. Most graduates are estimated to go into jobs rather than on to further study.

University of Florida is a public university whose degree mix is led by Engineering, Business, and Social Sciences, and mobility is among the highest we track. Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them.

The model attributes that to the factors it measures, which adds to expected earnings, while the remainder it does not explain subtracts. Return is well above average, and the typical graduate earns above the median at comparable schools, so the raw and adjusted results point the same way.

Students who arrive with Pell Grants finish below the rate for the entering cohort as a whole, and access is among the highest we track. The lowest income band pays well below the published cost, while the highest band pays closer to it, and affordability is among the highest we track.

The admission rate is below the median for comparable schools. The largest departments are not the best-paid ones: a student drawn to the social sciences should go in knowing that the highest-earning programs are in engineering and computing.

UF at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate^[1]: 24.2%
Six-year completion^[2]: 91.1%
Four-year earnings^[3]: $77,321

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income^[6]: $7,151
Median student debt^[4]: $15,000
Median Parent PLUS debt^[7]: $18,837

UF rankings: how Azimuth assesses value^[5]

University of Florida is a public university in Gainesville, Florida, enrolling 35,629 undergraduates. Its composite standing sits near the very top of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions, with strong across the board.

Only 24.2% of applicants are admitted, against a peer median of 78.1% for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Once enrolled, 97.7% of full-time first-year students at University of Florida return for a second year, compared with a peer median of 83.1%.

The six-year graduation rate reaches 91.1%, well above the peer median of 65.0%. An estimated 18.3% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the six-year rate captures only the first-time, full-time cohort and misses a large share of the student body.

The four pillars sit close together, all in the top fifteen percent nationally, yet they are not identical. Mobility is the strongest, while return is the weakest.

Access and affordability fall between them, giving the university a broad, balanced profile rather than strength in a single dimension.

The University of Florida's strongest pillar is mobility, which Azimuth places at the 97th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Affordability follows at the 96th percentile and access at the 93rd percentile. Return is the weakest of the four pillars, at the 88th percentile.

21.7% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants, a figure that covers the institution's federal-aid reporting units, not this campus alone. Those students complete at 82.1%, 9.0 percentage points below the overall six-year graduation rate (91.1%).

Azimuth ranks the university #104 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth ranks the university #43 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $13,469 more than the model expects for similar students.

How value-added outcomes are assessed · How to interpret program rankings

UF rankings in context
Geography	Rank
National	#29

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility: National percentile: 97

Access & reach: National percentile: 93

Affordability: National percentile: 96

Return on investment: National percentile: 88

Top-ranked majors

Construction Engineering Technology/Technician#1
Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Facilities Management#1
Systems Engineering#2

This school’s three highest-ranked programs nationally. Each rank compares bachelor’s programs in the same field; field sizes differ.

Explore major rankings

01 / UF briefing

UF cost & financial aid^[6]^[7]

The University of Florida publishes a cost of attendance of $22,523, with in-state tuition and fees of $6,381 and room and board of $12,120. Out-of-state students face tuition and fees of $28,659.

For aid recipients, the average net price—what students pay after grants and scholarships—is $6,541, which is $9,093 below the $15,634 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Financial aid reduces the published cost by $15,982 on average.

Azimuth ranks the university #54 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The published cost of attendance at University of Florida is $22,523. Azimuth ranks the university #54 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients from families earning under $30,000 is $1,982, for those earning $48,001 to $75,000 it is $7,151, and for those earning over $110,000 it is $16,723. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $14,741.

Aid covers about 71% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, bringing the across all aid recipients to $6,541. That is $9,093 below the median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

About 65.7% of federal aid recipients take federal loans. Borrowers who finish carry a median of $15,000 in federal student loans, which is $5,076 below the peer median of $20,076.

Parents who borrow through Parent PLUS hold a separate median of $18,837. If repaid over ten years, the median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $170 a month.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$7,151

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at UF

Federal borrowing reaches 65.7% of federal aid recipients at University of Florida. Among borrowers who complete, median federal student loan debt is $15,000, $5,076 below the peer median of $20,076 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Parents who borrow through the separate Parent PLUS program hold a median of $18,837. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that 16% of its 6,517 bachelor's graduates who started as first-time students borrowed from any source.

The average cumulative debt among those borrowers was $18,745. Nearly all of those borrowers held federal loans, including 16% of graduates who averaged $14,698 in federal principal.

A much smaller share of graduates, 2%, took out private loans, averaging $32,521 among those who did.

University of Florida combines earnings that sit well above the peer median—the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size)—with borrowing that runs below it. Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $77,321, at the 86th percentile nationally.

Graduates earn about $13,469 more than the model expects for similar students. That places the gap at the 89th percentile.

Earnings scenarios, estimated from the program mix, range from $50,938 in a downside case to $105,435 in an upside case. The typical earnings scenario is $77,321.

On the borrowing side, completers who took federal loans carry a median of $15,000. That is $5,076 below the peer median of $20,076.

The debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $170 a month if repaid over ten years.

For the separate population of parent borrowers, median Parent PLUS borrowing is $18,837. For student borrowers, the median federal debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $170 a month if repaid over ten years.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt: $15,000
Institution Parent PLUS debt: $18,837

Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.

Estimated student payment · monthly: $170/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly: $239/mo

Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.

Payment assumptions

Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.

Explore your own numbers in Financial GPS

Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / UF briefing

UF career outcomes & earnings^[3]^[8]^[9]

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $77,321, at the 86th percentile. That is $11,711 above the $65,610 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Graduates earn about $13,469 more than the model expects for similar students, placing that gap at the 89th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $14,127.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $658. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $4,316.

Azimuth ranks the university #180 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. That places the return pillar in the 88th percentile.

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates of University of Florida who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $77,321. That figure is $11,711 above the $65,610 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

The earnings cohort numbers 9,906 completers. Graduates earn about $13,469 more than the model expects for similar students, placing that gap at the 89th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings scenarios based on the university's program mix put typical earnings at $77,321, with a downside scenario of $50,938 and an upside scenario of $105,435. These are earnings scenarios, not observed groups of graduates.

An estimated 33.0% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix.

Return is the weakest of the four pillars for University of Florida, yet the raw earnings figures still land above the peer median. Among federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, the median four years after completion is $77,321, placing the university at the 86th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

That amount sits $11,711 above the $65,610 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Among nonprofit four-year institutions, Azimuth ranks the university #180 for return.

Graduates earn about $13,469 more than the model expects for similar students. The earnings gap falls at the 89th percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $14,127. What it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $658.

Among the measured factors, the STEM component adds $4,316. The bachelor's degree profile is concentrated in engineering, business and the social sciences, the three broad fields that award the most degrees.

Estimated earnings scenarios derived from the program mix stretch from $50,938 on the downside to $105,435 on the upside. An estimated 33.0% of graduates continue on to graduate study, based on the program mix.

Earnings at University of Florida vary widely by field, a pattern the earnings scenarios capture. The downside earnings scenario sits at $50,938, the upside at $105,435, and the typical scenario at $77,321.

These are modeled from the program mix, not observed groups of graduates. At the higher end, Computer Engineering graduates earn a median of $128,140 four years after completion, from 118 degrees awarded a year.

Computer and Information Sciences follows at $126,268, with 338 degrees awarded, and Systems Engineering at $122,299 from 123 degrees awarded.

At University of Florida, the published cost of attendance is $22,523. The average net price—what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships—is $6,541, which is $9,093 below the $15,634 peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Aid covers about 71% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, though this is an average rather than a personal quote. Among borrowers who completed, median federal student debt is $15,000, which is $5,076 below the $20,076 peer median.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $170 a month if repaid over ten years. Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $18,837 in Parent PLUS loans.

Graduates earn about $13,469 more than the model expects for similar students, and the median debt sits below the peer median. The net price and the earnings picture both run in the same direction here.

What explains value-added earnings?

Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.: +$14,127
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.: -$658
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.: +$13,469

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Read the full outcomes brief

Read the full admissions brief

04 / UF briefing

What are the largest majors at UF?^[12]

University of Florida fields 65 nationally ranked bachelor's programs, and the earnings spread across its largest fields is wide. Business Administration and Management awarded 452 degrees and reaches $82,615 four years after completion, holding an Azimuth national rank of #40 in its field.

Psychology awarded 599 degrees, reports $57,053, and ranks #49 nationally. The highest-earning programs sit in engineering and computing.

Computer and Information Sciences leads among the ranked at $126,268 with 338 degrees awarded and an Azimuth national rank of #19. Systems Engineering follows at $122,299 with 123 degrees awarded and ranks #2 nationally.

In contrast, Biology awarded 595 degrees and reports $53,645, ranking #170 in its field, illustrating the earnings variation across fields at the university.

University of Florida has 65 nationally ranked bachelor's programs. Construction Engineering Technology/Technician ranks #1 in its field, with 100 degrees awarded and median earnings of $109,139 four years after completion.

Systems Engineering ranks #2 nationally, with 123 degrees awarded and median earnings of $122,299. The largest programs are Psychology and Biology, at 599 and 595 degrees awarded.

The highest-earning program is Computer Engineering, at $128,140, from 118 degrees awarded.

The University of Florida awards degrees across a broad range of fields, with Engineering accounting for 12.5% of bachelor's degrees, Business at 11.9%, and Social Sciences at 11.8%. The university has 65 programs with an Azimuth national rank and 71 with published four-year earnings data.

The largest single programs are Psychology at 599 degrees awarded and Biology at 595 degrees awarded, with Business Administration and Management close behind at 452 degrees awarded. The strongest programs span engineering and parks, recreation, and leisure fields.

Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Facilities Management also ranks #1 nationally within its field, with 71 degrees awarded and median earnings of $64,497. Computer Engineering has the highest median earnings at $128,140 four years after completion, from 118 degrees awarded.

Computer and Information Sciences stands out for its combination of scale and return: median earnings of $126,268 and a benchmark ratio of 1.37x against the national median for its field. The pattern is one of strength spread across several fields rather than concentrated in a single department.

The largest programs by degrees awarded are not the highest-earning, but several mid-sized programs post earnings well above the national median for their fields. 36.1% of degrees awarded are in STEM.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields

Psychology, General 599 degrees awarded: $57,053
Biology, General 595 degrees awarded: $53,645
Business Administration, Management and Operations 452 degrees awarded: $82,615
Political Science and Government 397 degrees awarded: $70,434
Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication 369 degrees awarded: $69,600
Computer and Information Sciences, General 338 degrees awarded: $126,268

Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.

Read the full majors brief

05 / UF briefing

How does UF serve students from different backgrounds?

Azimuth ranks University of Florida #43 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. That places the pillar in the 97th percentile.

The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 91.1%, while Pell recipients complete at a rate of 82.1%, a figure that sits below the overall rate by 9.0 percentage points. Graduates earn about $13,469 more than the model expects for similar students, placing the earnings beyond expectations measure in the 89th percentile.

University of Florida enrolls 35,629 undergraduates and admits 24.2% of applicants, a rate that is more selective than the peer median of 78.1%. Pell Grant recipients account for 21.7% of the undergraduate body, a figure that covers the institution's federal-aid reporting units.

An estimated 18.3% of undergraduates arrive as transfers or part-time students. Azimuth places the access pillar in the 93rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

06 / UF briefing

What colleges are similar to UF?^[15]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with UF.

Admissions peerUniversity of Alabama in Huntsville68.6% admitted

Comparison with UF
Measure	UF	University of Alabama in Huntsville
Peer earnings · 4 years	$77,321	$81,045+$3,724 vs UF
Average annual net price	$4,815	$18,796+$13,981 vs UF · higher cost
Admission rate	24.2%	68.6%

Explore University of Alabama in Huntsville →

Higher-admission alternativePennsylvania State University-Main Campus91.2% admitted

Comparison with UF
Measure	UF	Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
Peer earnings · 4 years	$77,321	$76,659-$662 vs UF
Average annual net price	$4,815	$19,550+$14,735 vs UF · higher cost
Admission rate	24.2%	91.2%

Explore Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus →

Nearby alternativeJacksonville UniversityNearby option · FL

Comparison with UF
Measure	UF	Jacksonville University
Peer earnings · 4 years	$77,321	$77,058-$263 vs UF
Average annual net price	$4,815	$25,180+$20,365 vs UF · higher cost
Admission rate	24.2%	56.9%

Lower-cost alternativeCUNY Hunter College$2,984 average net price

Comparison with UF
Measure	UF	CUNY Hunter College
Peer earnings · 4 years	$77,321	$73,236-$4,085 vs UF
Average annual net price	$4,815	$2,984-$1,831 vs UF · lower cost
Admission rate	24.2%	53.8%

Explore CUNY Hunter College →

Similar profileUniversity of GeorgiaMatched across several measures

Comparison with UF
Measure	UF	University of Georgia
Peer earnings · 4 years	$77,321	$74,144-$3,177 vs UF
Average annual net price	$4,815	$13,936+$9,121 vs UF · higher cost
Admission rate	24.2%	37.7%

Explore University of Georgia →

Each school is the first-ranked match in its category, not a recommendation across every measure. The same college may lead more than one category. Figures use the matching snapshot; earnings reflect the matched four-year cohort. — means unavailable.

Read the full similar schools brief

Data scope & methodology

Structured payloads generated September 27, 2026Governed hub narrative September 27, 2026Governed spoke corpus September 27, 2026

Four-year earnings describe cohorts of completers. Figures for other horizons describe different cohorts and are not joined into a career-growth projection.

Azimuth's overall rank and pillar percentiles come from the school profile. Absolute pillar ranks, city, enrollment and official-site links are shown only when structured data supplies them.

Detailed earnings, cost, admissions and program values come from the endpoint responsible for each measure. Missing values are not replaced with zero. Value-added estimates are model associations, not causal effects.

Figures are refreshed with each data release, at most a quarter apart. The underlying source dates can be earlier than the release.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Read the ranking methodology, data definitions and limitations · About College Azimuth

Read the analysis behind value-added earnings and the change to four-year graduate earnings. These articles are published on collegeazimuth.com.

Data notes & source fields

Scorecard field codes identify the underlying measure; Azimuth-derived values are labeled separately. Snapshot dates are not measurement years. Source populations and reporting periods differ across measures. Field definitions are in the U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation; notes with a different source link it below.

Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.
Source fields: ADM_RATE
Six-year completion. First-time, full-time students completing at the institution within 150% of normal time, typically six years for a bachelor’s degree.
Source fields: C150_4
Four-year institutional earnings. Median earnings of graduates in the reported cohort who are working and not enrolled, four years after completion.
Source fields: MD_EARN_WNE_4YR
Median federal student debt. Federal student-loan debt among completers in the reported borrowing cohort. Excludes Parent PLUS and is not total debt across all students.
Source fields: GRAD_DEBT_MDN
National, regional and state ranks; pillar percentiles; major ranks. Derived scores within the stated eligible comparison set, not raw Scorecard fields. Major ranks compare institutions within a field; their denominators differ.
Source fields: Azimuth rankings
College Azimuth · Ranking methodology
Annual net price by family income. Average annual cost after grants and scholarships for the eligible first-time, full-time aid-recipient cohort. Public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. Includes living costs; these are averages, not medians or individual offers.
Source fields: NPT4_PUB/PRIV; NPT41_PUB/PRIV through NPT45_PUB/PRIV
Parent PLUS debt, payments and GPS illustration. Stored payments use Financial GPS loan and repayment assumptions. The adjustable spectrum applies the published framework to annual student payments divided by earnings minus an expense allowance; its initial allowance uses the frozen 2024 framework baseline. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. Parent PLUS uses the completer median where available, otherwise the all-borrower median; these describe different borrowing populations.
Source fields: PLUS_DEBT_ALL_COMP_MD; fallback PLUS_DEBT_ALL_MD; Azimuth Financial GPS calculations
College Azimuth · Financial GPS methodology
Downside and upside earnings; yellow band. The band spans the modeled lower and higher scenarios. It is not the P25–P75 interval for individual graduates. The median marker is the separately reported institutional median.
Source fields: Azimuth modeled program-mix scenarios
College Azimuth · Earnings scenario methodology
Value added and its components. Observed-factor attribution plus the unexplained remainder equals total modeled value added. These are associations, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.
Source fields: Azimuth statistical model
College Azimuth · Value-added methodology
SAT score range and reported midpoint. Reported scores of enrolled score-submitters, not admission cutoffs. The midpoint field is not necessarily the middle of the displayed range.
Source fields: SATVR25 + SATMT25; SATVR75 + SATMT75; SAT_AVG
First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.
Source fields: RET_FT4
Program earnings, completion counts and major-mix dots. Included bachelor’s programs have at least five reported completions. Counts are aggregated credentials, not unique people or an earnings sample. Major-mix dots group those counts by field of study; excluded programs are not zero activity.
Source fields: EARN_MDN_4YR; IPEDSCOUNT1; CIPCODE
College Scorecard · Field-of-study technical documentation
Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.
Source fields: PCTPELL
Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group. This is not an observed transfer-in rate. It includes part-time entrants and other entering-student attendance patterns.
Source fields: 1 − PFTFTUG1_EF
Peer earnings and signed differences. Differences are peer minus this school, from the same matching snapshot. A positive earnings difference does not mean the peer is better on every measure.
Source fields: Azimuth peer model using MD_EARN_WNE_4YR
College Azimuth · Comparison methodology

How to interpret program rankings