university of South Florida

The University of South Florida is the ninth largest university in the United States in terms of enrollment, and the third largest in the state of Florida.  South Florida is a public research university that is a part of the State University System of Florida. The University of South Florida was founded in 1956 as the first public university established specifically to address the needs of Florida’s rapidly emerging urban regions. 

USF is the first campus in the nation to strike an accord with the Department ofVeterans Affairs to have specialized academic guidance services for veterans taking advantage of the Post-9/11 Veterans Education Bill.

The main campus is located in north Tampa, and there is also a separately accredited autonomous campus in St. Petersburg, Florida.  The USF College of Marine Science is also in St. Petersburg.  A pair of branch campuses is maintained in Lakeland and Sarasota as well.  Federal funding for academic research increased 213% from 2000 to 2007, making South Florida the fastest growing research university in the U.S.  The Princeton Review has ranked the university 17th in nation for diversity among students.

USF offers 228 degree programs at the undergraduate, graduate, specialist and doctoral levels, including a doctor of medicine, through its 11 colleges.  The university also offers several interdisciplinary programs, including liberal arts degrees with varying concentrations that encourage work in multiple departments by students.  Many liberal arts departments at South Florida are known to have a balance of different emphasis in their fields of inquiry which provide a variety of track options for students.   Recent successes have led to “dual designations for the USF System by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a Very High Research and a Community Engaged university.”

Undergraduate majors at USF can be found here: http://www.registrar.usf.edu/admissions/majors/
Graduate programs can be found here: http://www.grad.usf.edu/programs/programs.asp

South Florida also runs the Contemporary Art Museum on its campus, featuring regular exhibitions of contemporary art, including a show of faculty work every three years and an annual juried student show. USF also operates Graphicstudio, an art studio and print shop which has hosted artists like Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, and Allan McCollum. Regular exhibitions of student work are featured in the William and Nancy Oliver Gallery and the student-run Centre Gallery in the Marshall Center.

The University of South Florida has created USF Health, which includes a College of Nursing, a College of Public Health, and a College of Medicine, which also includes the School of Physical Therapy.  USF Health’s presence has generated a network of highly specialized teaching hospitals, including the James Haley Veterans' Hospital, Moffitt Cancer Center, Shiners' Hospital, and specialty units at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg and Tampa General Hospital.  The USF College of Public Health is the only public health college in the state accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health.

South Florida’s College of Marine Science “strives to define and realize a bright future with the emerging issues that affect the economic conditions of the Florida West Coast Shelf and we seek to address a myriad of relevant societal issues such as over-fishing, coastal erosion, red tides, ocean noise, dying coral reefs, hurricane predictions, sea level rise, floods, ocean acidification, and drought to build better, more environmentally-sustainable and safe communities.”