After serving in the U.S. Air Force, Xavian Damon Mitchell returned to school for the first time since he was 18 years old.
The 31-year-old elementary education senior at Santa Fe College said the school has been helping him readjust to civilian life. Mitchell said his advisors have been working with him closely to anticipate his transfer to UF.
“I wanted to use this as a smooth transition into the, as a lot of kids call it, the big leagues with UF,” he said. “So it was just a transitional thing.
Low-level coursework and cost-effective tuition make the school a major pathway tool boasting high transfer rates, allowing students to complete initial degree credits before qualifying for higher education.
Mitchell is among 8,000 students using Santa Fe as a stepping stone to attend other schools, and he will soon be among 2,400 others to transfer to a different Florida university.
Savana McClain, a 21-year-old early education junior, is planning on finishing her associate’s degree to then transfer to UF with hopes to finish her bachelor’s and potentially pursue a graduate degree.
McClain met with advisers at Santa Fe throughout her transfer process, she said, who were helpful in guiding her toward a cost effective transfer.
One of her friends also used the transfer pathway, she said, and the positive experience she reported made McClain trust Santa Fe to push students in the right direction.
“I'm on the right track,” McClain said. “I feel like I'll be good.”
The ease of Santa Fe’s pathway stems from its advisers, who work closely with UF’s Office of Admissions to ensure aspiring transfer students meet the requirements.
Andrea Evangelist, the director of college-wide advising and career exploration at Santa Fe, said students should connect with an adviser early in the registration period, especially because some want to apply to competitive programs or just don't know where to start.
“Thinking about it after you graduate in the Spring is too late,” she said. “You should have thought about it six months prior to when Fall was going to start.”
Transfer application deadlines for UF are Sept. 15 for Spring 2027, Feb. 15 for Summer 2027, and May 1 for Fall 2027.
The advisement center offers workshops to inform students about upcoming transfer application dates, she added, as well as lab sessions where students can get help filing transfer papers.
Over 80 tracks are offered through the Santa Fe transfer system, Evangelist said, though the most popular are liberal arts programs offered through Going Gator.
The Going Gator program guarantees transfer admission to UF’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for some degrees. Aside from completing specific major prerequisites, students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.5 and earn an associate’s degree to qualify.
“Our partnership has actually been very beneficial in helping students make decisions about majors and careers that they may not have otherwise thought about,” Evangelist said.
Contact Lilyanna Collado at lcollado@alligator.org. Follow her on X @lilyannacollado
Lilyanna Collado is a junior journalism student and this is her first semester at The Alligator! This semester she is the Santa Fe reporter. When she's not writing she either reading, going to theme parks and spending time with her four dogs.
