- Overview
The Right Choice
When students arrive on campus, they realize they've made the right choice. The grounds are green and beautiful, marked by swaying palm trees and majestic academic buildings. Students feel the warmth of the Florida sun, and of an international community of adventurous learners focused on careers for the future. After setting up their rooms, riding their bikes downtown, and checking out the local beach, students realize how excited they are to dive into their chosen fields of study, and they won't have to wait.
A Fast Start
At Florida Institute of Technology, all students -- even freshmen -- are treated as capable scholars. In addition to the powerful core courses they need to succeed in all of the school's programs, students take relevant hands-on classes in their majors right away. Students dive into dynamic introductory courses in aeronautics, business, engineering, science, psychology, humanities, and communication. They meet professors who care about their success, and other students who share their passions.
Students also get involved in academic clubs, student government, or one of over 100 other organizations created for students by students. Students' first years are focused, purposeful, and balanced, putting them on the fast track to continued success as sophomores.
The Adventure Continues
As students complete core requirements and delve deeper into their majors (as well as related sub-fields, minors, and specializations), the benefits of small classes and early exposure to real-world experience become clear.
An engineering professor may invite students to join an undergraduate research team; a psychology professor may request student participation in crafting a survey; or a biology professor may offer to students spots on a fieldwork expedition to the Andes. A well-known software company might choose students for an internship, or students might clinch coveted aerospace engineering co-op positions at Kennedy Space Center.
Students' classroom knowledge becomes second nature the more they apply it, and they apply it often. Quickly, any student finds that his or her second year at Florida Tech is second to none.
It Gets Intense -- in a Good Way
With 2 rigorous yet invigorating years under students' belts, they start to think like experts and act like professionals. They move from projects and activities that challenge them to solving problems, asking questions of their own, and developing creative new ways of tackling issues. Students complete their second (or third) internships or co-op experiences and, if they're enrolled in one of Florida Tech's accelerated master's programs, they take their first graduate classes.
Students may be credited alongside their business or psychology professors for research that's been published in the latest professional journals, or they might get to present at national conferences on the future of internet security, environmental sustainability, or cancer research. While students at other colleges get their first tastes of real major courses, Florida Tech students visit Career Services to polish their already impressive resumes.
Applying Knowledge
Florida Tech education culminates with a dynamic capstone experience that asks students to apply the knowledge and skills they've acquired in challenging real world scenarios. Science majors, for example, undertake advanced research on topics of their choosing (lightning physics, neural networking, DNA analysis, invertebrate zoology, nanotechnology, or green chemistry, for example). Engineering students take on senior design projects for which they must conceptualize, design, and build innovative machines, robots, software, structures, and gadgets (such as portable traffic lights, solar-powered cars, hydrogen-fueled planes, and intelligent water impurity detection systems).
Students present their work to peers, professors, and industry professionals. They field questions, and perhaps some pre-graduation job offers. Opportunities in business, research, government, education, and industry abound. Students pursue those opportunities with confidence and professionalism.
The Future Begins
Not long after commencement, Florida Tech students find themselves among the 92 percent of recent Florida Tech graduates who are employed, admitted to a top graduate school, or entering the military, or pursuing other passions.
Florida Tech alumni include 5 astronauts who have flown on the space shuttle, a National Teacher of the Year, the first female four-star general, director of a NASA center, and thousands of scientists and engineers working at high-tech companies like Duracell, Google, General Electric, Rockwell Collins, Harris Corporation, Samsung, Pfizer, and the Los Alamos National Laboratories. It's truly up to students to determine in what industry they will become leaders or where they will make their marks. With a Florida Tech degree, prospects are limitless.
The University in Brief
Florida Institute of Technology is a national, doctoral-granting research university with a unique focus on hands-on education within an enriched technological environment. It is the only private, independent technological university in the Southeast, and has been ranked a Tier One Best National University by "US News & World Report."
Florida Tech offers 186 world-class bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs in engineering, aeronautics, science, business, psychology, communication, and humanities at its Melbourne campus. All of its curricula combine rigorous, engaging coursework with dynamic laboratory and field experience. This approach is called "High Tech with a Human Touch," and it's what Florida Tech does best.
- At a Glance
School Type
Independent, Coed
Setting
Small-town 130-acre campus with easy access to Orlando
Degrees Offered
Associate, Bachelor's, Master's, and Post-Master's Certificates
Comprehensive Costs
$43,504 includes full-time tuition ($31,734), mandatory fees ($560), and room and board ($11,210). Full-time tuition and fees vary according to course load and program. Part-time tuition: $950 per credit hour
(Cost includes full-time tuition plus additional fees such as room and board and mandatory fees)
Entrance Difficulty
Moderately difficult , 59% of applicants were admitted
Application Deadlines
Rolling (freshmen), rolling (transfers)
- Admissions
Freshman
Admission: 4,687 applied; 2,749 admitted; 490 enrolled Average high school GPA: 3.6
Test Scores
· SAT critical reading scores over 500 76%
· SAT math scores over 500 87%
· ACT scores over 18 99%
· SAT critical reading scores over 600 30%
· SAT math scores over 600 51%
· ACT scores over 24 71%
· SAT critical reading scores over 700 5%
· SAT math scores over 700 10%
· ACT scores over 30 17%
Applying
Options: electronic application, deferred entrance
Required: essay or personal statement, high school transcript, minimum 2.6 GPA
Recommended: minimum 3.3 GPA
Application deadline: rolling (freshmen), rolling (transfers)
Notification: continuous (freshmen), continuous (transfers)
- Cost and Financial Aid
Costs (2010-11)
Comprehensive Costs: $43,504 includes full-time tuition ($31,734), mandatory fees ($560), and room and board ($11,210). Full-time tuition and fees vary according to course load and program. Part-time tuition: $950 per credit hour
Room and board: College room only: $6670. Room and board charges vary according to board plan and housing facility
Payment plan: Installment
Waivers: Senior citizens and employees or children of employees
Financial Aid
Of all full-time matriculated undergraduates who enrolled in 2009, 1,613 applied for aid, 1,470 were judged to have need, 304 had their need fully met. 755 Federal Work-Study jobs (averaging $1282). 10 state and other part-time jobs (averaging $3327)
In 2009, 541 non-need-based awards were made
Average percent of need met: 79%
Average financial aid package: $28,521
Average need-based loan: $4813
Average need-based gift aid: $19,809
Average non-need-based aid: $10,298
Average indebtedness upon graduation: $41,565
- Majors and Degrees
Degrees Offered
Associate, Bachelor's, Master's, and Post-Master's Certificates
Majors
Biological And Biomedical Sciences
Aquatic Biology/Limnology; Biochemistry; Biology/Biological Sciences; Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology Related; Biomedical Sciences; Conservation Biology; Marine Biology and Biological Oceanography; Molecular Biology
Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
Accounting; Accounting and Business/Management; Business Administration and Management; Business Administration, Management and Operations Related; E-Commerce; Information Resources Management; International Business/Trade/Commerce; Logistics, Materials, and Supply Chain Management; Management Information Systems; Marketing/Marketing Management
Communication, Journalism, And Related Programs
Communication; Communication and Journalism Related
Computer And Information Sciences And Support Services
Computer Science; Information Science/Studies
Education
Biology Teacher Education; Chemistry Teacher Education; Earth Science Education; Mathematics Teacher Education; Middle School Education; Physics Teacher Education; Science Teacher Education
Engineering
Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical/Space Engineering; Chemical Engineering; Civil Engineering; Computer Engineering; Computer Software Engineering; Electrical and Electronics Engineering; Engineering; Mechanical Engineering; Ocean Engineering
Engineering Technologies And Engineering-Related Fields
Construction Engineering Technology
Health Professions And Related Programs
Health/Health-Care Administration
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefighting And Related Protective Services
Corrections and Criminal Justice Related
Legal Professions And Studies
Pre-Law Studies
Liberal Arts And Sciences, General Studies And Humanities
General Studies; Humanities; Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies
Mathematics And Statistics
Applied Mathematics; Mathematics
Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies
Interdisciplinary Studies; Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies Related
Natural Resources And Conservation
Environmental Science
Physical Sciences
Astronomy and Astrophysics Related; Chemistry; Chemistry Related; Meteorology; Oceanography (Chemical and Physical); Physical Sciences; Physics; Physics Related; Planetary Astronomy and Science
Psychology
Forensic Psychology; Psychology
Transportation And Materials Moving
Aeronautics/Aviation/Aerospace Science and Technology; Air Transportation Related; Aviation/Airway Management
- Student Body
Undergraduate Student Population
5,582 undergraduate students, 51% women, 49% men, 3% transferred in
International Population
representing 88 other countries
Housing Info
50% live on campus
- Campus Life
Housing: On-campus residence required through sophomore year
Options: Coed, Campus housing is university owned. Freshman campus housing is guaranteed
Activities: Drama/theater group, student-run newspaper, radio and television station, choral group, FITSSFF, College Players, Saudi Student House, Squamish, Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society, national fraternities, national sororities
Most popular organizations: FITSSFF, College Players, Saudi Student House, Squamish, Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society
Campus security: 24-hour emergency response devices and patrols, late-night transport/escort service, controlled dormitory access
Student services: Health clinic, personal/psychological counseling
Academic Programs
Special study options: Academic remediation for entering students, accelerated degree program, adult/continuing education programs, advanced placement credit, cooperative education, distance learning, double majors, English as a second language, independent study, internships, part-time degree program, services for LD students, student-designed majors, study abroad, summer session for credit
ROTC: Army (b)
School Calendar: Semesters
- Faculty
Total: 664
Full-time: 36% full-time
Student/faculty ratio: 16:1
- Athletics
Athletics
Member: NCAA, Division: All Division II
Scholarship sports
Baseball (m), basketball, crew (w), cross-country running, golf, soccer, softball (w), tennis, volleyball (w)
Nonscholarship sports
Football (club), racquetball (club), ultimate Frisbee (club), water polo (club)
Intramural sports
Badminton M/W, baseball M(c)/W(c), basketball M/W, bowling M/W, cheerleading M(c)/W(c), crew M(c)/W(c), fencing M(c)/W(c), football M/W, golf M/W, ice hockey M(c)/W(c), racquetball M/W, sailing W(c), soccer M/W, softball M/W, tennis M/W, ultimate Frisbee M/W, volleyball M/W, water polo M/W, weight lifting M/W, wrestling M(c)/W(c)
Intercollegiate sports
Baseball M(s), basketball M(s)/W(s), crew W(s), cross-country running M(s)/W(s), football M(c)/W(c), golf M(s)/W(s), racquetball M(c)/W(c), soccer M(s)/W(s), softball W(s), tennis M(s)/W(s), ultimate Frisbee M(c)/W(c), volleyball W(s), water polo M(c)/W(c)
- School Facilities
Facilities/Endowment
Main Library Name: Evans Library
Collection: 358,230 titles; 56,414 serial subscriptions; 6,304 audiovisual materials
Endowment: $40.3 million
