Florida college news roundup, September 14th to 20th, 2026. Everything below happened last week at UCF, FAMU, straight from each university's own newsroom.
This week's roundup covers September 14 to 20, 2026, and brings news from two Florida schools making moves in specialized fields. UCF locked down a seventh consecutive national ranking in hospitality, and FAMU landed $10 million in federal grants to build a quantum research center. Neither story is about overall prestige, but both show what these schools are actually doing in their strongest areas.
The short version
- UCF: UCF's Rosen College ranks first in the nation for hospitality programs, but the school admits 41 percent of applicants with middle-half SAT scores of 1310 to 1420.
- FAMU: FAMU received $10 million in NSF grants to operate dilution refrigerators that study quantum computing, positioning the university in a cutting-edge scientific field.
What does UCF's hospitality ranking mean for applicants?
UCF's Rosen College ranks first in the nation for hospitality programs, but the school admits 41 percent of applicants with middle-half SAT scores of 1310 to 1420.
UCF's Rosen College of Hospitality Management ranked No. 1 nationally for the seventh straight year in the ShanghaiRanking's 2026 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects. The school also placed No. 2 in Transportation Science and Technology and has held a top-10 spot in that field for seven years running. Both rankings reflect research from faculty leaders in their fields.
A ranking is not an admissions criterion. It is useful for one thing: telling you which schools are getting harder to get into and which programs have real strength. If your kid is interested in hospitality, event management, or hotel operations, UCF's seven-year streak shows this isn't a new program trying to build credibility. It's established. But the school still admits about four in ten applicants, so it isn't the barrier some flagships have become.
Source: ucf.edu · What UCF takes to get in
What is FAMU doing with $10 million in quantum research funding?
FAMU received $10 million in NSF grants to operate dilution refrigerators that study quantum computing, positioning the university in a cutting-edge scientific field.
Florida A&M University installed two dilution refrigerators through a pair of five-year National Science Foundation grants totaling $10 million. These machines create environments colder than outer space to remove heat and vibration so researchers can study qubits, the building blocks of quantum computers. FAMU established its quantum research center two years ago and is now positioned to tackle applications ranging from drug design to weather forecasting to fertilizer production.
This matters because quantum computing is genuinely new, and most universities don't have the equipment or federal backing to work in it yet. If your kid is interested in physics, engineering, or computer science and wants to work on problems that haven't been solved, FAMU now has the lab setup to make that happen. The school admits about 36 percent of applicants, with middle-half SAT scores between 900 and 1080. A strong student in STEM could find real research opportunity here.
Source: news.famu.edu · What FAMU takes to get in
What this week means for your student
Not sure what these schools actually require? Our Florida College Playbook has the SAT scores and GPAs for the top five, plus the Bright Futures cutoffs and a checklist by grade. Book a free SAT Game Plan call and we will map the score your student needs for the school on their list.
This roundup covers September 14th to 20th, 2026. We publish one every week, compiled from the Florida universities' own newsrooms.