History of the University of Florida

The history of the University of Florida is firmly tied to the history of public education in the state of Florida. The University of Florida originated as several distinct institutions that were consolidated to create a single state-supported university by the Buckman Act of 1905. The oldest of these was the East Florida Seminary, one of two seminaries of higher learning established by the Florida Legislature.^[1] The East Florida Seminary opened in Ocala 1853, becoming the first state-supported institution of higher learning in the state of Florida. As it is the oldest of the modern University of Florida's predecessor institutions, the school traces its founding date to that year.^[2] The East Florida Seminary closed its Ocala campus at the outbreak of the American Civil War and reopened in Gainesville in 1866.

The other primary predecessor to the University of Florida was the Florida Agricultural College, established at Lake City in 1884 by Jordan Probst. Florida Agricultural College was the first land-grant college in the state, and as its name implies, the small college emphasized the scientific training of agricultural and mechanical specialists. In 1903, the Florida Legislature changed the name of Florida Agricultural College to the "University of Florida" in recognition of the legislature's desire to expand the curriculum beyond the college's original focus.

The Buckman Act of 1905 completely restructured Florida's higher education system. Six state-supported institutions were combined and reorganized into three schools segregated by race and gender. Four institutions – the East Florida Seminary, the University of Florida at Lake City (formerly Florida Agricultural College), the St. Petersburg Normal and Industrial School in St. Petersburg, and the South Florida Military College in Bartow – were consolidated to form the new University of the State of Florida, a school for white males.^[3] At the same time, the legislature created the Florida Female College and the State Normal School for Colored Students, both in Tallahassee. These schools would eventually evolve into Florida State University and Florida A&M University, respectively.^[4] Gainesville and Lake City competed to be the home of the new university. Gainesville was chosen, and construction on a new campus began just west of town in late 1905.

The University of Florida's student enrollment grew from 102 when it opened in Gainesville in 1906 to about 2,000 in 1930 and 10,000 in 1950. The school began accepting some white women students starting in 1924 and became fully coeducational as a result of the influx of new students brought in by the GI Bill after World War II. It became racially integrated in 1958. The school grew substantially in size and increased in academic prominence during the second half of the 20th century. It became a member of the Association of American Universities in 1985, enrollment topped 50,000 by 2000, and it was named one of the top five public universities in the United States in 2021.^[5]