The university was founded by the Florida Legislature in 1963, and opened in 1968 as Florida Technological University, with the mission of providing personnel to support the growing U.S. space program at the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Florida's Space Coast. As the university's academic scope expanded beyond its original focus on engineering and technology, "Florida Tech" was renamed The University of Central Florida in 1978. Initial enrollment was only 1,948 students, as of 2014 enrollment consists of 60,821 students from over 140 countries, more than 40 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. The majority of the student population is located on the university's 1,415-acre (5.73 km2) main campus approximately 13 miles (21 km) east-northeast of downtown Orlando and 55 miles (89 km) south-southwest of Daytona Beach. The university offers over 200 degree options through thirteen colleges and twelve satellite campuses throughout Central Florida. Since its founding, UCF has awarded almost 280,000 degrees, including 50,000 graduate, specialist and professional degrees, to over 240,000 alumni worldwide.
UCF is a space-grant university and has made noted research contributions to optics, modeling and simulation, digital media, engineering and computer science, business administration, education, hospitality management, and the arts. It is considered an up-and-coming national university by U.S. News & World Report. UCF's official colors are black and gold and the university logo is a Pegasus, which "symbolizes the university's vision of limitless possibilities." The university's intercollegiate sports teams, commonly known by their "UCF Knights" nickname and represented by mascot Knightro, compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I and the American Athletic Conference (The American)
Following President John F. Kennedy's September 1962 speech in which he described his goal of sending a manned space flight to the moon by the end of the decade, the space program grew in importance and scope across Central Florida because of its close proximity to Cape Canaveral and defense contractors. Prominent residents and local leaders began lobbying the Florida State Legislature to increase access to higher education on the Space Coast. With the help of former State Senate President William A. Shands and Senator Beth Johnson, the legislature passed and Governor Farris Bryant signed into law Senate Bill No. 125 on June 10, 1963, which authorized the Florida Board of Regents to create a new state university in East Central Florida. The university was founded as a non-segregated and coeducational university, with the mission of educating students for promising space-age careers in engineering, electronics and other technological professions.
On January 24, 1964, the Board of Regents purchased 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) of remote forest and pasture land along Alafaya Trail (SR 434) in northeast Orlando at the cost of $500,000 as the site of the new university. Local residents donated another 227 acres (0.92 km2), and raised more than $1 million in funds to secure the land acquisition. In December 1965, the Board of Regents appointed Charles Millican the first president of the new university. Millican with the consultation of a citizen advisory group, chose the name Florida Technological University, as well as co-designed the school's distinctive "Pegasus" seal. Millican is also responsible for the university's slogan – "Reach for the Stars" – and for the two key principles of the school, "accent on excellence" and "accent on the individual." Millican was also responsible for the university's unique pedestrian oriented concentric circle campus layout, which was based on plans by Walt Disney and has become a model for other universities. Millican and then-Governor Claude Kirk presided over FTU's groundbreaking in March 1967. Eighteen months after the groundbreaking, the inaugural classes were held in the school's first academic building, the library on October 7, 1968. 1,948 students were enrolled in fifty-five degree programs within five colleges, and were led by 90 instructors, and aided 150 staff members during the university's first year. FTU graduated its first class of 423 seniors on June 14, 1970, with astronaut and Orlando native John Young giving the commencement address.
Millican was also responsible for selecting the official colors of the university, and had a role in selecting its first mascot - the Citronaut, a mix between an orange and an astronaut. The Citronaut proved unpopular, so in 1969 the student newspaper – The FuTUre – compiled mascot suggestions from students and faculty. The search for a replacement proved unsuccessful until 1970, when Judy Hines, a night nurse at the health center proposed "Vincent the Vulture." He served as the university's unofficial mascot for more than a year. In late 1971, students voted and selected the "Knight of Pegasus" as the school's official athletic mascot. After retiring as president in 1978, Millican would identify his proudest moment leading the school as when President Richard Nixon delivered the university's spring 1973 commencement address.
