About Florida Tech

2012–2013 Fact Card

Florida Institute of Technology

College of Engineering

College of Science

College of Aeronautics

College of Psychology and Liberal Arts

Nathan M. Bisk College of Business and Extended Studies Sites

Online Learning

 

FOUNDED

In 1958 to provide advanced education for professionals working in the space program at what is now Kennedy Space Center.

 

LOCATION

In Melbourne, Fla., on 130 subtropical acres, including the picturesque Botanical Garden.

The campus is located very close to the Indian River, the Atlantic Ocean and is less than an hour from Kennedy Space Center.

 

OF SPECIAL NOTE

• The only independent, technological university in the Southeast

• A Barron's Guide “Best Buy” in College Education

• Listed as a Tier 1 Best National University by U.S. News & World Report

• Named one of the nation’s top technological institutions in the Fiske Guide to Colleges

• Cited by Washington Monthly College Rankings as among universities contributing to the public good

• Doctoral program in industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology rates 2nd in nation for quality as rated by students

 

• Among top Southeastern colleges according to Princeton Review ratings

• Named by Forbes as one of America’s Best Colleges

• Graduates’ starting and midcareer salaries ranked at the top of the list in PayScale.com’s 2011 College Salary Report

• On Parade Magazine’s A-List in Engineering

• Listed as #3 of the 20 fastest-growing campuses, 2000-2010, among private nonprofit research institutions in the Chronicle of Higher Education Almanac 2012.

• The university’s Ortega 0.8-m Telescope is the largest research telescope in Florida

• Listed among “The 25 ‘Boatiest’ Schools in America” by BoatU.S. Magazine

• Named by “Surfline” as one of the 10 best surf schools in America

• Ranked by G.I. Jobs as among the top 15% of colleges and universities

 

FINANCES

Total University Budget: Approximately $200 million

 

 

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT COSTS PER YEAR

Tuition

Science and Engineering $35,460

Other Disciplines $32,310

Room and Board $10,320

Books (estimate) $1,200

 

ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

Undergraduate programs in science, engineering, aeronautics, business, humanities, mathematics, psychology, communication and education (science and mathematics); master's programs in science, engineering, aviation, business, mathematics, psychology, behavior analysis, communication and education (computer, environmental, mathematics, science and informal science and teaching); and doctoral programs in science, engineering, mathematics, psychology, behavior analysis and science and mathematics education. 

 

FLORIDA TECH RESEARCH PARK

The Florida Tech Research Park at Melbourne International Airport (FTRP) is a concrete response to the needs of industry. In this research, science and technology enterprise, the elements for innovation, development and economic growth partner with business and the community in collaboration with a national research university.

The FTRP represents the largest research park located at an FAA-approved airport. This intermodal hub, in Foreign Trade Zone No. 136, is home to many high-tech companies and research-based facilities. Site incentives are in place for prime office and research space as well as available build-to-suit sites for immediate development.

This park presents opportunities to technological and innovative businesses of all sizes. The park’s ideal location on Florida’s Space Coast offers exceptional quality of life, convenient support services and amenities, a high-tech work force, business friendly incentives, strong research partners and key intermodal transportation links by land, sea, air and space, making it a natural incubator for research, innovation and success.

For more information: www.fit.edu/researchpark, ftrp@fit.edu  or (321) 914-0742.

 

DEPARTMENT OF EXTENDED STUDIES SITES

(Nathan M. Bisk College of Business)

Huntsville, Ala.; Orlando, Melbourne, Rockledge and Kennedy Space Center, Fla.; Aberdeen Proving Ground and Patuxent River, Md.; Picatinny Arsenal and Lakehurst, N.J.; and Fort Lee, National Capital Region and Hampton Roads, Va., and The Virtual Campus.

 

ONLINE LEARNING

The university gives working professionals the opportunity to earn degrees in more than 60 online programs. Each of our colleges participates in online programs. Students can choose from degree programs offered in 8-week terms and 16-week semesters, or professional development programs offered in similar formats. Florida Tech has been committed to the educational needs of non-traditional students since our founding over 50 years ago and has offered online degree programs since 2000.

EVANS LIBRARY

The library, the heart of Florida Tech information retrieval, offers campus-wide and worldwide access through its website, which delivers a catalog of library materials, online databases, electronic journals and books, reference and research resources, online instruction and Internet sites organized by discipline. The Evans Library provides a full range of academic information services.

 

 

CAMPUS LIFE

Close to 1,700 Florida Tech undergraduates reside on campus. The newest residence halls, Harris Village, opened on the south campus in 2008. The three-building complex features 382 beds for sophomores through seniors. Their 111 apartments offer comfortable home-like amenities, which include a full kitchen, living room and compartmentalized bathrooms.  

Campus life revolves around the Clemente Center for Sports and Recreation, the Denius Student Center and Panther Plaza. Panther Dining Hall, which opened in January 2011 adjacent to the new Panther Aquatic Center, is another major gathering place. The center offers a huge selection of pre-made and made-to-order dishes, pizza, classic entrees, comfort food, burgers, entrée salads, panini and more. A grocery store/quick service facility provides prepackaged freshly cooked foods for take-out, a deli, grab-n-go grill and breakfast sandwiches.

Students participate in a wide range of intramural sports, more than 100 student organizations and 21 intercollegiate sports. From Greek life to the College Players theatrical organization, students are actively involved in the life of the campus community.

 

ATHLETICS

Florida Tech Athletics consists of 21 intercollegiate sports, a cheerleading team and the Panther Pep Band. Women’s sports include basketball, cross country, golf, rowing, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track & field and volleyball. Men’s sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, football, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, swimming, tennis and track & field. Football will kick off its inaugural season in the Fall of 2013.

The Panthers are a member of NCAA Division II. Of their 21 sports, 16 participate in the Sunshine State Conference. Men’s lacrosse is a member of the Deep South Conference. Football will compete in the Gulf South Conference when play begins in fall 2013. 

FIT has won national championships in men’s rowing and men’s soccer. Daniela Iacobelli collected an individual national title in women’s golf in 2007. Regional titles have been won in baseball, women’s basketball, men’s and women’s rowing, and men’s and women’s soccer. Sunshine State Conference championships have been earned in men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, women’s rowing, and men’s and women’s soccer

During the 2011–12 season, seven teams appeared in their respective NCAA Division II postseason tournaments. Men’s basketball won its first outright Sunshine State Conference Championship in its 45-plus year history. Women’s tennis earned its fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Most significant, FIT was one of only 24 institutions among 300 schools selected to receive the first NCAA Division II Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence.

In addition to fielding nationally ranked teams, Florida Tech offers exemplary on-campus athletic facilities, including the spacious Charles and Ruth Clemente Center, which houses the athletics department, workout facility and courts for the basketball and volleyball teams. The state of the art Panther Aquatic Center features competition and recreation pools for Florida Tech’s swimming teams and the campus community. Off Country Club Road are recently resurfaced practice courts, utilized by men’s and women’s tennis. On the south end of campus is the F.W. Olin Sports Complex, which includes Andy Seminick-Les Hall Field (baseball), the new Varsity Training Center and Panther Field (all sports), Rick Stottler Field (soccer) and Nancy Bottge Field (softball).

 

THE ARTS

Florida Tech's two spaces dedicated to the visual arts are overseen by the Director of University Museums. The Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts, is located on campus, and the Foosaner Art Museum (formerly Brevard Art Museum) is located five miles north of campus in the historic Eau Gallie Arts District (EGAD).  The campus Funk Center displays rotating exhibitions of traditional textile arts, fashion and design history, and modern and contemporary fiber art. The Foosaner Art Museum houses a permanent collection of over 3,000 objects and presents exhibitions of modern and contemporary art. The Foosaner complex also includes the Renee Foosaner Education Center, a fine arts studio for pottery, printmaking, painting and drawings courses, and the 100-seat Harris Community Auditorium

 

RESEARCH

INSTITUTES AND CENTERS

Undergraduates as well as graduate students take part in research activities that support local, state and national agencies and industry. These efforts include beach erosion, lagoon and ocean health and artificial reef monitoring, lightning, rocket propulsion systems, energy and alternative fuels, alternative vehicles, high temperature materials, software security and malware, and projects which may involve meteorology, particle physics, rocketry, astronomy, aeronautics and real-world marketing.  

Research Institutes
 Fatigue Management Institute, Harris Institute for Assured Information, Human-Centered Design Institute, Institute for Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Institute for Cross-Cultural Management, Institute for Energy Systems, Institute for Marine Research, Institute for Materials Science and Nanotechnology, Institute for Research on Global Climate Change, Sportfish Research Institute

Research Centers
 Center for Aviation Human Factors, Center for Corrosion and Biofouling Control, Center for Entrepreneurship and New Business Development, Center for Ferrate Excellence, Center for High Resolution Microscopy and Imaging, Center for Organizational Effectiveness, Center for Remote Sensing, Center for Software Testing, Education and Research, Collaborative International Research Centre for Universal Access, College of Engineering Center for Space Commercialization, Federal Aviation Administration Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration Center of Excellence for General Aviation, Florida Center for Automotive Research, National Center for Hydrogen Research, National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance-Research, Scott Center for Autism Treatment

Major Research Laboratories
 Applied Research Laboratory, Behavioral Neuroscience Laboratory, Dynamic Systems and Controls Laboratory, Laser, Optics and Instrumentation Laboratory, Microelectronics Laboratory, Ralph S. Evinrude Marine Operations Center, Robotics and Spatial Systems Laboratory, Vero Beach Marine Laboratory, Wind and Hurricane Impacts Research Laboratory

 

HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE, STUDENT SUCCESS

Engineering and science undergraduates, with students from other disciplines, participate in a required culminating research project. Most of these projects are displayed at the annual Northrop Grumman Engineering and Science Student Design Showcase, held each spring in the Clemente Center. All students earning bachelor’s degrees in the Department of Marine and Environmental Systems exhibit their required projects prior to graduation in the summer field projects symposium.

 

ENROLLMENT

Across the 2011-12 academic year, Florida Tech served approximately 14,000 students.

FALL 2012 Enrollment Snapshot   

4,224 main campus; 1,160 extended campus

3,432 online

Total: 8,816

On Campus Enrollment Breakdown  

College of Engineering   52.53%

College of Science    17.95%

College of Aeronautics    8.36%

College of Business   8.12%

College of Psychology and Liberal Arts   11.43%                 

No College Designated    1.61%

 

STUDENT BODY

Male-female 72%-28%; 91% of new full-time freshmen had 3.0 or above high school GPA; SAT I average for freshmen is 1150, compared to national average of 1010.

Geographic profile:

71.42% of all students come from the United States, representing 47 states;

38.05% of these are from Florida;

28.58% of all students come from 97 other countries

 

FACULTY

On-campus undergraduate student-faculty ratio 9:1;

231 full-time and 90 part-time faculty on Melbourne campus;

90% of full-time teaching faculty have Ph.D. or terminal degrees appropriate to their fields.

 

ALUMNI

More than 50,000 alumni, including a National Teacher of the Year recipient, director of a NASA center, five astronauts who have flown on the Space Shuttle, several astronaut candidates, the first female four-star general in U.S. military history, two other four-star generals and nearly two dozen other generals, a 1992 Olympic medalist and a retired major league pitcher. Thousands serve as scientists, engineers, pilots, and managers in many high-technology enterprises and major airlines.