For the first time in the history of the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee, freshman are attending the school.
On Monday, when the fall 2013 semester begins, the school will officially begin to offer four-year degrees.
It’s a big change for the school which opened in 1974 and recently only served as an upper-division transfer university.
“We felt we needed to do something significant for this community,” said Dr. Arthur Guilford, Regional Chancellor. “We were losing too many bright students who really wanted a university experience, not a college experience, and they had to leave the area.”
Out of the 85 enrolled college freshman at the school, 88 percent are from Sarasota and Manatee counties.
Sarah Bradtmueller, who went to high school in Sarasota, is one of them.
“I love the idea of a big university education in a smaller learning environment,” she said.
The school offers a small and personalized learning environment with a 15-to-1 student faculty ratio. It also has the lowest tuition out of all of the state universities in Florida.
This lower price for an education and overall lower cost of living is what attracted Jason Ferguson to the school.
“Living at home gives me a jump start in life,” said Ferguson. “Coming out of college and having no debt is money in the bank. It’s a huge deal.”
The school also thinks the students are a big deal. To celebrate their arrival, campus staff held a welcome party celebration for the group.
"It’s exciting," said Ferguson. "I was really ecstatic when I heard I was going to be the first freshman class. It’s a great opportunity to go down in history.”
It’s a college experience these students say they’ll never forget.
University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee now serves 4,500 students. It offers 42 undergraduate and masters degrees.
There are four colleges at the school, including Arts & Sciences, Education, Business, and Hospitality & Technology Leadership. In the fall, the school will offer a College of Science degree.