Gator Engineering at Santa Fe - Undergraduate Student Affairs

An Invitation-Only Pathway to Becoming a Gator Engineer

Gator Engineering at Santa Fe is a partnership between the University of Florida’s Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering and Santa Fe College. The program provides an alternative admissions route for select students who are passionate about engineering and meet specific academic criteria but were not initially admitted to UF due to space limitations.

Students in this program enjoy the support of both institutions, access to structured advising, and a clear academic plan to help them succeed from day one.

Explore the Program

Use the links below to learn more about each part of the Gator Engineering at Santa Fe experience:

Program Overview
Gain a comprehensive understanding of how the program operates, the participating majors, and what makes this path unique.
Invited Students
Just received your invitation? Here’s what it means, what to expect, and how to take the next steps.
Course Plans
Review your semester-by-semester path, critical tracking milestones, and degree requirements.
FAQs
Have questions? We’ve compiled answers to the most frequently asked questions from students and their families.

Testimonials

Zhiting Li

Being part of Gator Engineering at Santa Fe has benefited me greatly. It made my transition into college much smoother and allowed me to develop close friendships through the program. Since the classes were smaller, it was easier to connect with both classmates and professors. This experience also gave me the confidence to put myself out there and now I hold a leadership position in WingHacks and am a member of the SwampHacks marketing team. I highly recommend this program because it helps ease the transition from high school to college while fostering lasting friendships.

Alex Findlay

The biggest benefit with this program is taking all the fundamental classes (calculus, physics, etc.) in the smaller class setting, found at Santa Fe. This allowed me to get to know my professors and gain a full understanding of the material I was learning. Another benefit with this program is the guaranteed transfer to UF. That is huge.

Since coming to UF, I’ve gotten involved with IEEE. I’m now one of their Corporate Relations Officers, so I reach out to companies (I’ve done 38 in total), and see if they would be interested in sponsoring us, so they can come to campus, hold an info session, and talk with our student body. The sponsorship is for direct connection with our students to boost their recruitment efforts. So far, my partner and I have raised over $10,000 for this fall. The aspect of my major I like most is circuits. I’m taking Circuits 1 this fall, and I’m very excited for this class. I would recommend this program to future students largely because of the guaranteed transfer and the smaller classes. Taking many of the base level classes at Santa Fe really helps to build a thorough understanding of the fundamental knowledge needed for the more challenging engineering classes at UF.

Taylor Schmitt

What benefitted me the most from this program was certainly the small class sizes. I was able to have more one-on-one experiences with professors, and bond with my classmates more. Since becoming a full-time student at UF, I have gotten involved in IEEE, Girls Who Code, and most recently the student Launch Team! I would definitely recommend this program for someone who is looking for smaller class sizes starting out and slowly get exposed to the kinds of classes offered at UF.