In addition to losing its title as the top party school, UF may slip to No. 2 in enrollment among state universities this year.
While the University of Central Florida is projecting about 52,000 students, just over 49,000 registered at UF by Friday afternoon.
UF spokesman Steve Orlando said it's likely that UF's numbers will grow, but it doesn't appear enrollment will reach 52,000.
The number of students enrolled last fall at UF was 52,112.
UCF spokesman Chad Binette said the school expects enrollment to increase by about 1,750 from last fall because of a high retention rate-the percentage of freshman who return the following fall- and a record number of transfer students, most of whom transfer from Florida's community colleges.
UCF has registered 4,700 transfer students this fall, Binette said, and has a retention rate of 85 percent, compared to UF's 94 percent.
UF announced a plan in April that aims to reduce enrollment from 2007's 51,725 students by 4,000 over four years.
"It's kind of a desired outcome," Orlando said.
The expected drop will work in favor of students, he said, by lowering UF's high faculty-student ratio, which is more than 20-to-1.
The reduction in enrollment will also allow UF to increase the percentage of graduate students versus undergraduates, he said.
According to a December list from the American School & University magazine Web site, UF had the third highest enrollment among U.S. universities, behind Ohio State and Arizona State universities. UCF placed fifth.
