Gator Engineering at Santa Fe

Gator Engineering at Santa Fe

What is it?

The Gator Engineering at Santa Fe program is a collaboration between the University of Florida (UF), the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering (HWCOE), and Santa Fe College (SF). Every year, UF Admissions must unfortunately turn away many freshman applicants. Recognizing the academic qualifications of many of these applicants, however, the HWCOE at UF teamed up with the local state Santa Fe College to create an invitation-only program that would provide deserving and committed students with an alternate, guided pathway for eventual admission to UF.

There are seven engineering degree programs from UF’s College of Engineering that participate in the Gator Engineering at Santa Fe program:

Degree Programs Available in Gator Engineering at Santa Fe

Through successful completion of program requirements, students from Gator Engineering at Santa Fe have a direct route into one of the above engineering degree programs at UF.

Note: Students are evaluated for this program after first being considered for freshman admission to UF. Only students who have applied through the freshman admissions process and who have met the published freshman application deadline (typically November 1st) are considered for invitation to the Gator Engineering at Santa Fe program. Students must have declared as their intended major one of the seven participating engineering degree programs in their applications to UF in order to be considered for Gator Engineering at Santa Fe.

How does it work?

There are three possible routes on the journey toward a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Florida:

UF Freshman
Student
Gator Engineering at Santa Fe
Student
Traditional Transfer
Student
Applied to UF, admitted by UF Admissions Applied to UF as a freshman, denied by UF Admissions, reviewed by HWCOE, invited to UF’s partnership program with Santa Fe College Admitted to or currently attending a state college with the goal to apply to UF in the future

Students in the Gator Engineering at Santa Fe program begin their studies at the local Santa Fe College before eventually transitioning fully to UF’s campus to complete their degree work.

Gator Engineering at Santa Fe students differ from traditional transfer students in a few significant ways:

  • They must adhere to an organized and timely schedule of courses for their respective majors.
  • They must maintain an overall 2.0 GPA or higher and a 2.5 GPA or higher for certain critical tracking courses.
  • They must earn their AA degrees from Santa Fe College.

Students in Gator Engineering at Santa Fe begin taking classes in either the Summer B semester (optional) or the Fall semester at Santa Fe College as Santa Fe students. If students meet certain requirements after their first Fall semester, they can become UF-Admitted students who then take at least one class at UF while continuing to take most of their foundational coursework at Santa Fe College. Once all major-specific, foundational classes (called Critical Tracking courses) have been completed at Santa Fe College, students may then transition fully to the UF campus as Full UF students to complete all remaining coursework toward their UF bachelor’s degrees.

Important Terms and Explanations

Santa Fe student: student status at Santa Fe College (SF) only, enrolled only at SF

UF-Admitted student: student in the Gator Engineering at Santa Fe program who is eligible to take at least 1 course at UF while continuing major coursework and AA degree requirements at SF

Full UF student: student who is eligible to transition fully to UF’s campus for all remaining courses
*Student may still need to meet AA degree requirements via a reverse transfer of credit back to SF.

Critical Tracking (CT) courses: major-specific, foundational courses such as Calculus, Physics & Chemistry
*Critical Tracking begins at Calculus I for students of all majors, except for those requiring precalculus coursework (who are tracked back one semester).