ORLANDO, FL – The Florida Consortium of Metropolitan Research Universities;Florida International University, the University of Central Florida, and the University of South Florida is uniquely situated in one of the fastest growing regions of the United States and make up the metro areas of Miami, Tampa Bay, and Orlando. With a combined population of 11.2 million residents the Florida Consortium service area is the 8th biggest state in terms of population ranking just behind Ohio and just ahead of Georgia. In terms of state position, the Florida Consortium Metro area makes up 55% of the state of Florida population and 56% of the states minority population. Residents in our three cities hail from all over the world and come from every continent. Bottom line, we are big!
And our universities are big too! Each of the three Florida Consortium Universities; Florida International University, the University of Central Florida, and the University of South Florida all pride themselves on being universities of high quality with a high research focus but also open to every student who wish to work hard. According to 2013 Fall Enrollment Data provided by the National Center for Education Statistics; the combined enrollment of the three universities makes the Florida Consortium the 32nd largest state in the Union.
2013 Fall Enrollment
29. Kansas 184,075
30. Iowa 168,644
31. Utah 168,311
32. Florida Consortium 161,080
33. Mississippi 154,916
34. Arkansas 153,690
35. New Mexico 144,381
Source: National Center for Education Statistics
But bigger is not limited to enrollment size. During the 2012-2013 degree granting cycle the Florida Consortium awarded 33,198 bachelors degrees making the Florida Consortium the 21st largest state in terms of degrees granted.
2012-2013 Bachelors Degrees Awarded
18. Wisconsin 36,927
19. Minnesota 36,326
20. Tennessee 33,766
21. Florida Consortium 33,198
22. Washington 32,689
23. Colorado 32,446
24. Maryland 31,729
And many of these degrees are awarded to students who are the first in their families to attend college or come from low income households. One particular point of pride for our Florida Consortium is of the 33,198 degrees awarded, 56% or 18,509 were awarded to students from traditionally underrepresented populations. Even more impressive, 4.97% or 1 of every 20 Hispanic students who were awarded a Bachelor’s degree in 2013 was awarded a degree from one of our Florida Consortium Universities.