JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Community college is a route many students take before heading off to a university. However, for some transfer students with their sights on University of North Florida that may not be an option if action is not taken quickly.

A policy change at UNF has some potential transfer students at Florida Community College-Jacksonville facing a tight deadline and upset that the school is putting them in a bind.

"I really did think that, and then I went on the computer on Monday and I was like 'May 2? Wow. OK, I have to get it in,'" said student Catherine McClendon.

Expecting to graduate with her Associate of Arts degree from FCCJ on Saturday, McClendon said she plans to attend the UNF in the fall.

She told Channel 4 she thought she had six more weeks to apply for fall admission, but was surprised to see a May 2 deadline when she logged on to the school's Web site on Tuesday.

Now, McClendon is one of many transfer students trying to beat the rush.

UNF said the policy change stemmed from budget cuts from the state that have forced the university to revise its deadline.

"This is not a problem unique to FCCJ and UNF. This is a statewide budget issue. This is impacting all 11 state universities in Florida," said UNF spokeswoman Sharon Ashton.

UNF told Channel 4 that as of Monday, they posted an important bulletin on their Web site alerting transfer students to the new deadline changes.

"As transfer students they could have applied to UNF as early as last August. In fact, more than a 1,000 already have," said Ashton.

She said while Friday is the official deadline, students who do not meet the deadline and have extenuating circumstances will be considered for admission only on a case-by-case basis.