{"id":105155,"date":"2026-01-04T12:22:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T12:22:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/105155\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T12:22:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T12:22:19","slug":"how-higher-education-grew-in-central-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/105155\/","title":{"rendered":"How higher education grew in Central Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

As part of the Orlando Sentinel\u2019s 150th birthday, on the first Sunday of each month we will report on a topic that helped shape the Central Florida of today and how we covered that topic. Today we begin with higher education in Central Florida.<\/p>\n

In 1968, the Orlando Sentinel\u2019s editorial board marked a historic milestone for higher education in Central Florida.<\/p>\n

\u201cMonday Oct. 7. Write it down. Remember it as the day that changed Orlando and Central Florida forever,\u201d the editorial said.<\/p>\n

That day was the first day of classes for about 2,000 students at the newly minted Florida Technological University in Orlando. The state launched the campus to help train the next generation of aerospace engineers to work at Kennedy Space Center in the midst of the nation\u2019s space race.<\/p>\n

That school a decade later would be renamed the University of Central Florida and has since grown into Florida\u2019s largest university and one of the largest universities in the United States.<\/p>\n

UCF is easily the most recognizable higher education institution in the region, with its 1,420-acre campus in east Orange County and an undergraduate enrollment of about 60,000.<\/p>\n

But in the history of higher education in the Orlando-area, UCF is the undeniable new kid on the block. Its 60-year history pales in comparison to its smaller, much older siblings \u2013 Rollins College in Winter Park and Stetson University in DeLand, which both date to the 1880s.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn Orlando Sentinel editorial about the opening of Florida Technological University, what would be later renamed the University of Central Florida, that ran Oct. 8, 1968. (Orlando Sentinel file)<\/p>\n

The Orlando Sentinel, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, has covered each school as it pushed into an unknown educational frontier, established itself and then became woven into the fabric of Central Florida.<\/p>\n

A \u2018daring\u2019 new college<\/p>\n

When the Sentinel \u2014 first known as the Orange County Reporter \u2014 was founded in 1876, the region was largely a center for railroads, agriculture and manufacturing.<\/p>\n

But Florida Congregationalist church members decided Winter Park, where rich northerners made their home for winter months, was where they wanted to start a new college.<\/p>\n

Other communities, including Daytona, Mount Dora and Orange City, made bids, but church leaders picked Winter Park, in part because it offered the most money and land.<\/p>\n

\"ThisROLLINS COLLEGE
\nThis photograph is one of the earliest taken of the Rollins College campus in 1888. The main buildings, from left, are Knowles Hall, Pinehurst Cottage and the dining hall. (Rollins College archives)<\/p>\n

Launching Rollins was a risky venture, said Jack Lane, a history professor emeritus at Rollins, who was tapped in 1984 to document the school\u2019s history for its 100th anniversary.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was one of the most daring, to be generous, and one of the most foolhardy things that ever occurred \u2026 for that group of Congregationalists to stick a college in the middle of the frontier with very few people here,\u201d Lane said. \u201cIt was amazing that they thought that it could ever succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pioneering college opened in 1885 and weathered difficult times early on, as the infamous winter freeze of 1894 destroyed orange groves throughout the state and crippled a key revenue source for Rollins, Lane wrote in his history of the school.<\/p>\n

The school faced bankruptcy in the 1890s, and also prejudice from those in the northeast, who it hoped would send both money and students.<\/p>\n

Then-President Charles Fairchild said in his 1893 inaugural address that northerners viewed Florida\u2019s climate as ill-suited for serious learning. Harsh winters bred academic thought was the attitude, he said, while warm weather bred \u201cdreams of romance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe renowned Knowles Memorial Chapel on the Rollins College campus in Winter Park, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025. The chapel opened in 1932. (Joe Burbank\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

But Rollins persevered. In a 1911 ad in the Orlando paper, it bragged it was the \u201coldest college and most beautiful campus in Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n

The college, built on the shore of Lake Virginia, by then had 12 buildings, business, music and science programs and robust athletic offerings \u2014 including a baseball team that had been state champs five years in a row.<\/p>\n

The Rollins ad also boasted there was \u201cno malaria.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AnAn advertisement for Rollins College that appeared in the Orlando Evening Star on June 12, 1911.\u00a0(Orlando Sentinel file)<\/p>\n

By 1924, the editorial board of the Orlando Evening Star \u2014 another predecessor of the Sentinel \u2014 lauded the school as a \u201cbig asset\u201d to Orange County\u2019s education system and to the region, attracting \u201cdesirable people\u201d due to the \u201ccharm as a college community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The college would thrive but, as Lane noted in \u201cAn Uneasy Imbroglio, Rollins College and Race in the Era of Segregation\u201d, its early leaders faced \u201ca persistent dilemma\u201d as their \u201cliberal social values\u201d clashed with those in their new \u201csouthern rural, conservative culture,\u201d with the the big sticking point race relations.<\/p>\n

Florida was a Jim Crow state then, and the college\u2019s Congregationalist leaders long championed \u201cAfrican American causes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PinehurstPinehurst Cottage as seen on Rollins College’s campus ca. 1909 (left) and as seen on Dec. 20, 2025 (right). The building is the longest standing at Rollins College, which traces its history back to 1885. (Rollins College archives, Joe Burbank\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

But in its early days, Rollins leaders bent to the rules of their new home. An effort to enroll Cuban students around 1900, for example, fell apart when locals noticed the new students\u2019 skin color, and parents then threatened to withdraw their children, Lane wrote. The college\u2019s president, Lane said, responded with new rules: \u201cPublic opinion is such in the South that we cannot accept Cuban students if there is in them any admixture of colored blood.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the mid-20th Century, Rollins seemed steeped in local life. A 1956 Sentinel story on the \u201cglamourous\u201d opening of The Town Club showed Rollins\u2019 president and his wife among the \u201cdistinguished\u201d fur-draped guests and said a water ballet staged by the college was the highlight of the evening\u2019s entertainment.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Mister Rogers sculpture on the Rollins College campus in Winter Park, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2025, honoring famed alumnus and children\u2019s TV show host Fred Rogers. The statue was installed on campus in 2021. (Joe Burbank\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

The college frequently hosted concerts in its chapel, which were announced in the paper, and Rollins alumnus Fred Rogers, well before he became famous for Mr. Rogers\u2019 Neighborhood, got a newspaper note in the mid 1950s when his music was used in an NBC children\u2019s show.<\/p>\n

Today, Rollins enrolls more than 3,000 students and offers more than 60 different degree programs. In October, it celebrated the opening of a new tennis and golf athletic center, as the school now fields 21 NCAA Division II teams.<\/p>\n

\"ConstructionConstruction continues on a new residential housing area on Rollins College named East End Neighborhood in Winter Park on Feb. 14, 2025. (Orlando Sentinel file)<\/p>\n

The school is growing too. Rollins will open a new residence hall for the Fall 2026 semester to house an additional 217 students. It also opened a $71-million residence hall for 500 students in 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cRollins\u2019 future is bright,\u201d said President Brooke Barnett, the college\u2019s president, in a statement.<\/p>\n

It is committed to preparing students for \u201cglobal citizenship and responsible leadership\u201d and to remain \u201cgood neighbors\u201d to the Central Florida community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"PresidentPresident Barack Obama greets supporters during a rally at Rollins College in Winter Park on Aug. 2, 2012. (Joe Burbank\/Orlando Sentinel file)<\/p>\n

Part of that mission is through the school\u2019s lecture series, which has hosted former President Barack Obama and the namesake founders of Ben and Jerry\u2019s ice cream.<\/p>\n

Obama spoke during his re-election campaign and a few days before his 51st birthday, a 2012 Sentinel story noted. The crowd sang \u201cHappy Birthday\u201d to the president.<\/p>\n

\u201cWinning Florida wouldn\u2019t be a bad birthday present,\u201d Obama replied to the crowd.<\/p>\n

\"HistoricHistoric DeLand Hall, where the precursor to Stetson University started, as seen in 1884 (left), and the same building as seen on Dec. 10, 2025 (right). DeLand Hall is the oldest building in continuous use for higher education in Florida, according to Stetson. (Stetson archives, Stephen M. Dowell\/Orlando Sentinel)
\nA \u2018beautiful\u2019 location for a school<\/p>\n

Further north in DeLand, Stetson University also got its start in the 1880s, opening as a kindergarten through grade 12 academy run out of a Baptist church building in 1883. That building called DeLand Hall, still in use today at Stetson, is the oldest\u00a0in Florida in continuous use for higher education.<\/p>\n

Accredited as a university in 1887, the school was renamed after cowboy hat magnate John B. Stetson. Stetson was started in partnership with the Baptist church \u2014 an affiliation it carried for more than 100 years until dropping it in 1995.<\/p>\n

Stetson launched the state\u2019s first law school in 1900, allowing Central Floridians to study the law without needing to move to Chicago or New York.<\/p>\n

Stetson\u2019s DeLand campus sits in its namesake town, as Henry DeLand \u2014 a baking soda manufacturer from New York \u2014 founded the university and donated much of his purchased land for churches, schools and roads in the community.<\/p>\n

A 1907 advertisement in the Evening Star promoted the school\u2019s academic offerings to the community and added: \u201cThe location is beautiful and healthful, and the expenses are low.\u201d<\/p>\n

A 1911 story praised the caliber of its law school graduates \u2013 all men \u2013 and Stetson\u2019s law library, which it said was the best in Florida.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A statue of John B. Stetson is pictured at Stetson University on Dec. 10, 2025. (Stephen M. Dowell\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

\"Stetson<\/p>\n

Stetson University is pictured on Wednesday, December 10, 2025. (Stephen M. Dowell\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

\"Stetson<\/p>\n

Stetson University is pictured on Wednesday, December 10, 2025. (Stephen M. Dowell\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

\"Stetson<\/p>\n

Stetson University is pictured on Wednesday, December 10, 2025. (Stephen M. Dowell\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 4<\/p>\n

A statue of John B. Stetson is pictured at Stetson University on Dec. 10, 2025. (Stephen M. Dowell\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Stetson fielded sports teams, often playing Rollins in a long-standing baseball rivalry.<\/p>\n

In a 1976 column, Sentinel\u2019s legendary sports writer Bill Buchalter declared the Tangerine Bowl basketball tournament a success and a \u201ctriumph for Central Florida with Stetson and Rollins gaining the championship round for the very first time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stetson today enrolls about 2,400 undergraduates and 1,400 graduate students. It has 18 sports teams and is still known for its law school, which is on a separate campus near Tampa.<\/p>\n

The university will open a new residence hall in 2026, housing another 300 students on its 175-acre campus.<\/p>\n

\"RenovationRenovation on the bell tower is underway at Stetson University on Wednesday, December 10, 2025. (Stephen M. Dowell\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

Stetson also plans to rebuild Hulley Tower, a campus bell tower and mausoleum that was destroyed by several hurricanes. In a 2024 speech, Stetson President Christopher Roellke said rebuilding the structure would help take the school from a \u201cFlorida gem to national treasure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Rollins, Stetson hosts speakers and events that are open to the public.<\/p>\n

That is a way \u201cto continue the education of the citizenry, not of just the students that are on campus, but also the local community,\u201d said Jeffery Gates, Stetson\u2019s senior vice president of enrollment and marketing.<\/p>\n

\"FloridaFlorida Technological University student swalk and lounge near the Reflecting Pond in front of Millican Hall in 1970 (left), and a University of Central Florida student prepares to pose for graduation photos in front of the same pond on Dec. 10, 2025 (right). (UCF archives, Joe Burbank\/Orlando Sentinel)
\nA \u2018well-rounded university\u2019 in east Orange County<\/p>\n

UCF, with its much shorter history, sees its youth as an advantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe create our own lane. We form our own speed. And that\u2019s why we\u2019re versatile,\u201d said Manoj Chopra, UCF\u2019s associate dean of academics.<\/p>\n

Chopra, an engineering professor, has been at the university since 1992 and served on the school\u2019s board of trustees from 2005 to 2009.<\/p>\n

UCF has matured into a sense of self-confidence \u2014 especially after its undefeated 2017 football season brought national attention to the Orlando campus, Chopra said.<\/p>\n

\"Aerial<\/p>\n

Aerial of Florida Technological University (now the University of Central Florida) in August 1973. (Orlando Sentinel file) <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Citronaut was the first mascot of Florida Technological University, which later became the University of Central Florida. (Courtesy UCF)<\/p>\n

\"Parking<\/p>\n

Parking at Florida Technological University on Oct. 3, 1969. (Orlando Sentinel file)<\/p>\n

\"Construction<\/p>\n

Construction workers shown on the third floor of Florida Technological University library building on Oct. 6, 1967. The library is the largest of FTU buildings and will house most administrative and faculty offices and some classroom space. (Orlando Sentinel file)<\/p>\n

\"Aerial<\/p>\n

Aerial view of the Florida Technological University campus (now the University of Central Florida) in 1971. (Image courtesy UCF Special Collections)<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The letters are removed from the university sign on the corner of FTU Blvd and Alafaya Trail on December 13, 1978. Florida Technological University became the University of Central Florida on Dec. 6, 1978 when Gov. Reubin Askew signed legislation changing the name of the university. (Orlando Sentinel file)<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 6<\/p>\n

Aerial of Florida Technological University (now the University of Central Florida) in August 1973. (Orlando Sentinel file) <\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Since its inception, UCF has largely fulfilled the mission to educate engineers and scientists to work in the space industry. Almost 30% of employees at Kennedy Space Center are UCF alumni, according to the school, and its graduates also fill jobs at local aerospace companies such as Lockheed Martin.<\/p>\n

The Sentinel\u2019s editorial board called the school \u201cspace university\u201d in a 1963 column \u2014 a moniker the university has embraced through advertising and specialized \u201cSpace U\u201d football uniforms.<\/p>\n

But the school also has evolved beyond that engineering pipeline mission. In 2025, UCF\u2019s most popular major was psychology, followed by computer science and health science.<\/p>\n

It also moved from a largely commuter school to a full-scale campus under the tenure of President John Hitt, who was at UCF\u2019s helm for 26 years.<\/p>\n

As the Sentinel reported when Hitt died in 2023, he oversaw the addition of more than 100 new buildings, a medical school and on-campus football stadium \u2014 plus an enrollment jump of nearly 40,000.<\/p>\n

\"UniversityUniversity of Central Florida president John Hitt, looking to the future, outside the Burnett Honors College at UCF on Dec.15, 2005. (Joe Burbank\/Orlando Sentinel file)<\/p>\n

UCF ushered in its \u201cdirect connect\u201d program with local state colleges in 2005, guaranteeing admission to students who\u2019d completed their associate degrees and showcasing what Hitt said was its commitment to \u201caccess and excellence.\u201d<\/p>\n

UCF\u2019s admission standards have also become more competitive. The percentage of first-year applicants admitted dropped to 33% in 2025 from 49% in 2015.<\/p>\n

The construction of residential towers, an indoor sports arena and an on-campus football stadium in the early 2000s changed UCF\u2019s campus, with the 45,000-seat football stadium at the heart of that.<\/p>\n

\"FansFans cheer during the sold-out game between UCF and Texas at Bright House Network Stadium in Orlando on Sept. 15, 2007. (Orlando Sentinel file)<\/p>\n

The stadium, soon dubbed The Bounce House, was packed for its September 2007 opening game.<\/p>\n

\u201cSizzling debut,\u201d said the Sentinel\u2019s front-page headline on a story that noted how many students and alumni felt it was a transformational moment for UCF, creating a campus focus and school spirit.<\/p>\n

In 2010, UCF opened its medical school in Lake Nona.<\/p>\n

Before then, Manoj recalled riding a bus to Tampa with the football team when Hitt beckoned him to look out the window as they rode on State Road 417.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe pointed out to a vast area of nothingness but green. There\u2019s nothing there. And he says, \u2018This is where the next UCF incredible impact will be,.\u2019\u201d Manoj recalled.<\/p>\n

\"UniversityUniversity of Central Florida nursing students work on a lesson in the UCF Simulation, Technology, Innovation and Modeling (STIM) Center on the first day of classes at the new Dr. Phillips Nursing Pavilion at the school\u2019s Academic Health Sciences Campus at Lake Nona on July 18, 2025. The 90,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art facility will increase capacity for nursing student graduates by 150 annually. (Joe Burbank\/Orlando Sentinel file)<\/p>\n

The medical school helped spur hospitals and medical research facilities to open in what is now dubbed \u201cmedical city.\u201d In August, UCF opened a new nursing school building there, too.<\/p>\n

The school\u2019s arts programs have grown, too. UCF students can study theatre, music and visual arts with strong local industry connections at Disney, Universal and at Electronic Arts.<\/p>\n

Stella Sung, UCF\u2019s director of the Center for Research and Education in Arts, Technology and Entertainment, said the university has added a visual arts building and art galleries since she arrived in 1987.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe seek to be that well-rounded university. We seek to be able to have a variety of students who have a variety of interests,\u201d Sung said. \u201cUCF isn\u2019t just about space and science, it\u2019s also about arts and humanities and what makes us a great university.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ViewView of Luminary Green park in the Creative Village on April 22, 2024. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

UCF also opened a 15-acre campus in downtown Orlando\u2019s Creative Village in partnership with Valencia College in 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, the school is renovating its chemistry and biology buildings, overhauling its Rosen College of Hospitality Building and expanding its football stadium to add more than 60 suites.<\/p>\n

All four renovations are expected to be completed later this year.<\/p>\n

When the Sentinel was founded 150 years ago, there were no colleges in the Orlando area and just a few in Florida.<\/p>\n

But as Lane, the Rollins professor, noted, once those Northern church leaders began talking about starting a Central Florida college, the newspaper embraced it.<\/p>\n

In an 1885 editorial, Lane wrote, the paper\u2019s editor called Orlando a commercial center for Florida.<\/p>\n

And, in what seems prescient in a community thousands of college students now call home, then added, \u201cWhy not an educational center?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As part of the Orlando Sentinel\u2019s 150th birthday, on the first Sunday of each month we will report…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[113,53370,28,30,29,114,266,115,53371,109],"class_list":{"0":"post-105155","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-education","9":"tag-flashbacks","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-florida-headlines","12":"tag-florida-news","13":"tag-latest-headlines","14":"tag-local-news","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-orlando-sentinel-150","17":"tag-social"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}