UF is divided into twenty-one colleges, which offer over 100 undergraduate majors and an equally wide array of 200 graduate degrees, including the only dentistry and veterinary medicine programs in the state. The centerpiece of the critically-acclaimed journalism programs at UF is WUFT, which consists of both a PBS television station and an NPR radio station.

Florida's programs are generally ranked highly among public universities, and the university was ranked as a Top Tier school by US News and World Reports for 2004. The graduate programs in chemistry and tax law are consistently ranked among the best in the United States. UF's engineering programs are very well-funded, partly from royalties on the sale of a UF invention, Gatorade. The university is 13th among all universities - public and private - in the number of U.S. Patents awarded in 2000.

The acceptance rate at UF has slowly fallen over the past decade as more students apply. In 2004, the average incoming freshman had a weighted GPA of 4.0, an SAT score of 1290, and an ACT composite of 28. Undergraduate tuition is around $100 per credit for Florida residents, and $460 per credit for out-of-state students, with a typical load of 30 credits per year.