As part of the Prospective Student Event during Florida Campus Homecoming 2008,
more than 100 prospective students and their guests took part in interactive classroom
sessions, a campus tour and a luncheon. |
In October 2002, ground broke on the
construction of Palmer College’s Florida
Campus. One year later, the Florida Campus
opened its doors to the pioneer class of students.
By 2005, it began enjoying full enrollment.
That record has continued uninterrupted
ever since.
In its early days, the Florida Campus had an
enrollment goal of 188 students a year. But
in 2006, to accommodate sustained interest
in Palmer’s southernmost campus, the Office
of Enrollment increased that number to 244,
which is where it remains today.
“Several factors account for the interest
in our campus,” said Florida Campus
Enrollment Director Kim Amendola.
“Palmer’s reputation and our location are
at the top of the list. Plus, we have a low
student-faculty ratio.”
On average, the Florida Campus receives
more than double the amount of applications
for which it has seats. For that reason,
the Campus has gone to a selective enrollment
process. Factors that are taken into
consideration when awarding seats include
degree status, overall grade point average
(GPA), science GPA, letters of recommendation,
autobiographical essays and extracurricular
activities. Since this selective process
began, the average GPA is now 3.1.
More than 660 students are now enrolled
at the Florida Campus, yet current student
projections indicate that the Port Orange
facility could easily draw 800 students a
year. That’s more than a hundred beyond
its capacity. It’s also a scenario that exceeded
the College’s expectations when the campus
broke ground in 2002.