The University of Florida and Santa Fe College have agreed to partner to offer a new program for students interested in studying engineering.
Up to 150 students will have the opportunity to enroll in Gator Engineering @ Santa Fe(GE@SF).
The new program is designed to target students who came close, but were not admitted into UF's College of Engineering due to the college's competitive nature, said Edward Bonahue, Provost of Santa Fe College.
"This program is unique because students can qualify for admission to the university even while they're still in the middle of an A.A. degree," Bonahue said.
While at Santa Fe College, a student will take prerequisites courses and will be eligible for admission to UF. Admission could be as soon as the end of the student's freshman year.
According to a press release, in its first year, the program will offer four Bachelor of Science degrees: electrical engineering, computer science, computer engineering and digital arts and sciences.
Once admitted, the students will be on the UF campus and will not have to fulfill transfer student application requirements, according to the press release.
"The goal here is to identify students who may have just missed being accepted to the University of Florida and to direct those students to Santa Fe College," Bonahue said.
Casey Christ wrote this story online.
Video story by Paula Bonilla.