The elephant in the room is a number. 58,587. That number, or perhaps the fact that the University of Central Florida is the second-largest university in the country, is what most people know about UCF.

FACT: If UCF was a city, it would be larger than Winter Park and Oviedo—combined.

UCF’s size is the one thing that is difficult to avoid when you ask people for their impressions of the university. Of course, Americans like big. Big buildings. Big corporations. So, why not a big university?

FACT: The UCF student body could fill the world’s largest cruise ship more than nine times.

What people think of UCF’s size depends on who is talking. That number may be stated with a sense of superiority. Or skepticism. Many are positively boastful about UCF’s rapid growth. (UCF opened in 1968 with fewer than 2,000 students.) For them, that number is a measure of success.

FACT: It would take four Empire State Buildings to house all of UCF’s students.

The skeptics, however, will tell you that size is irrelevant. They will tell you that, despite its great size, UCF has not yet had a great impact. They will tell you that other things are more important than size. Research funding. Endowments. Sports championships. They will even speculate that the rapid growth has come at a price.

FACT: When it comes to that number, there are those who think it means everything, and those who are certain it means nothing. Both groups are wrong.