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Fascinating Facts About Valencia

1. Valencia College was named the top U.S. community college in the nation in 2011. The Aspen Institute awarded Valencia College the first annual Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence after a year-long effort to recognize excellence in the nation’s 1,200 community colleges, based on student performance and graduation data collected by the U.S. Department of Education.

2. Valencia produced more associate's degree graduates in 2003 than any other two-year school in the nation. Among the top 100 universities, colleges and community colleges, Valencia once again ranked 2nd in the number of associate's degrees conferred. In Florida alone, Valencia graduates more Hispanics and Asian Americans than any other two-year school in the state.

3. Valencia's fine-arts faculty was called "one of the best faculties in the region" by the Orlando Sentinel.
   
   
4. Two of the creators of The Blair Witch Project are Valencia graduates: producer Gregg Hale and production designer Ben Rock.
   
   
5. In a recent survey, 90% of Valencia students said they would recommend Valencia to others; 92% said Valencia met or exceeded their expectations on overall quality of education.
   
   
6. A former Valencia honors student (Howard Muzika, class of '91) was one of the digital artists who did the special effects for the movie "Titanic." His other credits include the T2-3D exhibit at Universal Studios Florida. Muzika attended classes on both West and East campuses.
   
   
7. Valencia was named 1998-99 National Community College of the Year by the National Alliance of Business and was chosen by Time Magazine in 2001 as one of the nation's best schools at helping first-year students excel.
   
   
8. The job placement rate for Valencia A.S. graduates is 90% and their average annual salary is $36,372.
   
   
9. Valencia's Honors Program regularly attracts students with SAT scores of 1,400 or better. The University of Florida designated Valencia's as the best two-year honors program in the state. Also, honors graduates often receive full scholarships to attend universities like UF, Duke, Emory, Vanderbilt and Georgetown.
   
   
10. In Feb. 1998, Disney's Touchstone Pictures filmed part of the movie "Instinct" on Valencia's East Campus in the Student Services Building. Actors Anthony Hopkins, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Donald Sutherland showed up to shoot several scenes in which the East Campus appears as a Miami medical university. Several graduates of Valencia's Film Program worked on the film as crew members.
    
    
11. In a recent survey, two-thirds of computer programming graduates were confident that the training received at Valencia had prepared them for a job in the IT industry.
    
    
12. In 2003-04, Valencia's annual credit enrollment was 42,847. Of these, 63% attended on a part-time basis and 70% attended classes during the day.
    
    
13. Director Steven Spielberg has called Valencia's one of the best film programs anywhere. Over 20 feature film projects have been completed since the inception of Valencia 's Film program in 1990. Many of the college's film projects have come out of its "Filmmaker in Residence" program, which brings in talented directors, producers, cinematographers and writers to work alongside film students. Several of these films have received national awards such as Night Orchid and First of May.
    
    
14. In March 1998, Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates visited Valencia to see how a $100,000 grant from Microsoft was being used to help train disabled people on computers.
    
    
15. In terms of the number of students, Valencia is the 3rd largest of Florida 's 28 community colleges.
    
    
16. The average annual starting salary of a worker with an A.S. degree from Valencia is more than double that of a high school graduate - $36,372 versus $15,376. The average full-time salaries of A.S. grads also top what the average bachelor degree holder will make ($31,048).
    
    
17. Valencia Foundation's endowment of more than $49 million is the largest community college endowment in the country. The foundation provides scholarships to Valencia students, as well as funding building construction and staff development.