I’ve currently been accepted into normal admission at UF.
It sounds like a good idea for adult students but I’m not sure what the point is for teenagers. (In my mind’s eye, I see Axl’s roommate from The Middle… I guess it’d appeal to him :D) Teens need to be with peers to learn. The social aspect of college is crucial for growth and the exclusion from social and rec activities seems to run counter to what “college education” means. While many kids have AICE/IB/AP credits that would speed them through the 60 credit process, it’s still a year “off” and alone, while the potential for failure is high (due to the super high level of discipline required - and you know that online course completion is lower than “residential/presential” completion, even if FL kids have all taken online classes in HS…)
Note: how are grades recorded for PaCE students, if they fail to complete their 5 online classes by the end of the semester, do they get an incomplete or an F?
How easily can they drop and what are the drop deadlines, ie., if they see after several weeks that it’s not working, can they drop and they have no college record, or will they be considered transfers everywhere they want to apply?
Would they be allowed into Learning communities when they transition to UF since it’s a good way to make friends and they’d be in their first year on campus, even if they wouldn’t have freshman status? Or would they be in sophomore residence halls? Is housing even guaranteed for them?
Why not manage the overflow like FSU with their year abroad opportunity, or like UMD (the kids take continuing and online classes together, are housed together offcampus even if without a RA, but can participate in all clubs and sports… I don’t have the details about UMD’s program but it didn’t seem too bad, and the kids could start in the Spring so it wasn’t a year wasted.) Or a combination thereof, that includes various types of classes and includes social activities?
Finally, mgc is right: although there’s no “guarantee” a high-GPA CC student will be admitted as a junior (or with junior status), odds are high enough that it’s definitely worth the risk. And a kid who attends, say, Rollins or USF for 2 years and gets a 3.75 would get to enjoy college but wouldn’t be taking a huge risk in reapplying for junior year if they still wanted to. In short, the incentive to accept seems very low.
@MYOS1634 Well said!
@MYOS1634 Lots of good questions! No one (outside of UF Admissions and UF Online) even knew about the program till 3,100 invites went out on 2/13.
I don’t think the real comparison is between 4 year resident students and PaCE(Online) students, but between local CC transfer students and PaCE students.
Those offered the PaCE program will need to decide between PaCE, going to another 4 year university/college or attending a local CC (or local Florida 4-year university, since we have 12 across the state). It’s those students who are thinking of going to a local CC (or university) that would most likely be a good fit for PaCE. I think this will make up the largest group of students that accept PaCE.
UF doesn’t have the capacity to handle additional resident Freshman (it’s currently taking in 6,500 a year), but it can handle the additional students Online and then when they transition into their majors (if it’s one of the 53 majors within the PaCE program). Delaying entry a year doesn’t help the capacity issue (though it does help the US News ratings, since they don’t count as Fall Freshman for stats, but that’s another issue!).
This week UF announced that PaCE kids can pay the additional fee’s for Rec sports and buy food plans. They still have to live off campus, but can use the library, join clubs, etc. Some kids with older siblings at UF are thinking of taking this option. UF also has several “private” dorm like facilities, next to campus.
For those students looking to save money (those most likely to choose a local CC), PaCE can be a great fit. Tuition isn’t much higher than the local CC’s (about $800 more a year), the schedule is very flexible, so it’s easier to work, and then after a year or so, you can then transition to UF (and not go through the more competitive transfer process).
Still, even though I don’t think this is a good fit for many if not most of the students offered the Program, it still may work out as a great option for some subset of students (who’s interested in one of the 53 majors offered). The hard core Gators (who may already have siblings at the school), the frugal Gators, looking to save money before transition to UF, or just the Gator who’s really enjoys taking classes online (unlike us old fuddy-duddies).
We’ll have to wait and see how many accept the offer…10%, 25%? more? UF sent out 3,100 invites, but it’s not expecting the same yield as normal acceptances (about 50% for in-state students).
@myos1634 @Gator88NE Answered a number of your questions (thanks!).
Some other info.
UF Online students (which included PaCE students) have identical grading and drop/add periods as residential students. UF Online students are treated no different academically than UF residential students and >90%, currently, of UF Online courses have residential students taking the exact same courses. These are residential students who are interested in taking their course(s) online. Some students (and parents) believe that given a choice, students would rather have classes in lecture halls. However, that has not been our experience in the vast majority of our online courses. Given a choice we have consistently observed that residential students pick the online version of a course over the residential version. There are likely many reasons for this from not wanting to wake up in the morning to the ability to view online lectures over and over (and at “increased” speed - a popular choice). Online course activities in many courses can also be done over a “window” of time, usually a week.
@MYOS1634 @Gator88NE The PaCE majors are majors that we have capacity in to take students at the upper (>60) credit level, which is why they were chosen.