<p>Would you pay the huge out of state tuition to got to UCLA instead of UF???</p>
<p>Do you think UCLA is significantly more prestigious/"better" than UCLA ????</p>
<p>It is probably the "sexier" choice.</p>
<p>In the academic world an elite group of flagships exists-- ie., Michigan, Wisconsin,
Texas (new kid- oil money bought entire elite departments), Cal, and UCLA. While
UFlorida achieved AAU status in 1985, its’ chances of joining the group of big dogs
is slim to none. Rather than approving new State universities, the legislature should
have been pouring these monies into UFlorida. The big dogs sniff around UFlorida a
little, then say eh feh!</p>
<p>120 credit hour BA degrees, 50 hours of AP/IB credit then out the door. Sounds like
a diploma mill to me.</p>
<p>.02 David</p>
<p>55-- I’ll add the University of Illinois to the original flagship list. Sorry. D</p>
<p>Oh, by the way, – government schools all!</p>
<p>Constitutionally, the Board of Governors is supposed to be governing the state university system and deciding when new universities should be opened, not the legislature. If the governor signs the bill for the immediate creation of a 12th university, overstepping the Board of Governors, there likely will be a lawsuit that will lead to the courts ultimately deciding if the 12th university will open or not. The legislature seems to think they are in charge simply because they fund the universities; the courts may end up reminding the legislature and governor that the Board of Governors is in charge of the state university system per the Florida constitution.</p>
<p>The BOG is a joke. They couldn’t find it (?) if they used both hands. My only point
here is that UFlorida is a fine AAU school (1985) yet that will be about it. While certain
AAU schools, e.g., The University of Texas, went about buying their way into Big Dog
status, UFlorida will continue their status as a solid AAU school, one of 60 or so. This is
good! But the OP wished to compare (I believe) UF with UCLA-- ah UCLA and a handful
of other flagships are in a class of their own. UFlorida is at the table but certainly not
at the head of the table anytime soon-- no $$'s for starters.</p>
<p>.02 David</p>
<p>If the BOG is a joke, it’s our own fault for allowing to be elected lame, inept, indifferent, or just plain crooked state “leaders.” The governor of Florida appoints most of the BOG governors; if Florida governors appoint duds who shirk their constitutional responsibilities to run the SUS properly, we need to elect a new governor who will appoint responsible BOG governors with spines. Gov. Scott’s recent poll approval #'s stink–I doubt he’ll be re-elected.</p>
<p>UCLA is ok, but it is a state university just as UF is. I think California is even more of a basketcase now with state government finances than the state of Florida which can’t be good for UCLA. As a Florida resident and not eligible for California resident tuition, I wouldn’t pay the way extra money for UCLA over UF even if I could!</p>
<p>bn12:</p>
<p>I do know that UCLA is somewhat “better” than UCLA, but in your opinion is UCLA that much “better” to justify the massive difference in tuition.</p>
<p>Money is a concern in our family, but we would do anything necessary for our kid, even if it means bankrupting ourselves.</p>
<p>We would do that, but we would only do it if we thought UCLA would open more doors for him in the future.</p>
<p>In my view, UCLA is a “brand name” that is coveted as far away as China and Japan.</p>
<p>Some kids even select Berkeley over UCLA.</p>
<p>Dad55-- I wouldn’t spend out of State tuition dollars (California) to go to UCLA
for an undergraduate degree. My daughter is accepted to UFlorida for this fall term.
As I recall your son was admitted to UF-- congrats. He must be a good kid and you
are quite proud of his achievement. Daughter is going elsewhere for the undergraduate
degree. But, she may apply to UFlorida for professional or graduate education. ?? We
will write a nice note thanking UF for the offer-- it may become part of an application
for a future degree. Who knows–</p>
<p>.02 David</p>
<p>entirely depends on the program.</p>
<p>Kids change majors-- No??? Statistic ??? D</p>
<p>they do, but that freedom isn’t worth the difference in tuition between UF and UCLA unless you really have no idea what you’re doing.</p>
<p>if you want to get into nursing, you shouldn’t consider UCLA, for instance. if you’re torn between math, pre-med, and film, then UCLA might be a good investment (maybe not if you’re going into film, actually).</p>
<p>At the end of the day you are comparing a top-20 public with a (maybe) top-5 public. For later application to professional or grad school, it will make no difference. In the prestige-centric world of consulting or IB…no disrespect to UCLA…I don’t think UCLA will be “good enough” for the lucrative positions that only go to the very top schools regardless. It is hard to make logical financial argument for UCLA. Incidentally, my niece graduated from UCLA in less than two years with community-college credits so I think bg12nn’s comments about “diploma mills” isn’t quite balanced.</p>
<p>I was just reading up on UCLA and it seems UCLA gets a large portion of its general operating revenue from its hospital operations and health care system collecting patient fees. I know UCLA is in a much larger metro region than UF, but does anyone know if UF gets much money from its Shands unit that is dumped into general operating revenue for UF, or is Shands mostly separate from general UF operations? Is the Shands operation even making money now, or is it losing money or just operating at break even?</p>
<p>I make no great claim to being “balanced” (.02). My comment re diploma
mills was directed at UFlorida, not UCLA. UCLA may very well hold this distinction
as well, especially given your student example. Most BA/BS programs at
UFlorida are 120 credit hours-- this number is a downstream initiative that began
a number of years ago in the Florida legislature. Why, to get undergrads thru and
out the door. A department faculty has to make an argument to exceed this
credit hour number. The UFlorida is a butts out the door operation at the undergraduate
level. The professional schools and graduate programs are very, very fine and we
should all be proud of them. My daughter will have 50+ IB/AP credits by the end of
this spring upon high school graduation. Technically, she could start this fall in
Gainesville as a second semester sophomore. GEP - done. Foreign Language - done.
Major Intro course - done. What’s left? Finish out the major coursework and apply
to professional/grad school. Geeeesh-- we will get her a proper undergrad Education elsewhere.</p>
<p>Again, just my .02 David</p>
<p>I’m just saying that I’m not sure the diploma mill label can’t as reasonably be applied to most large state schools, including UCLA. In the (anacdotal) case of my son, he graduated with a BSEE and 138 credit hours, with over 20 of them graduate level classes, and a IEEE microwave journal publication…hardly a cake-walk mill-machine for him. Like many large schools, you need to be motivated and take advantage of the opportunities.</p>
<p>rogracer-- Your points are solid. The example is impressive.</p>
<p>My basic point with regard to ALL the SUS Florida schools is that out the door
ASAP is the model for the undergraduates. UFlorida is no exception.</p>
<p>.02 David</p>