University Of South Florida-Main Campus

Location and Contact Information

The campus is in a large city.

Overview

The University of South Florida is a public research university located in Tampa. It was founded in 1956 as the first public university established specifically to meet the needs of the state's rapidly growing urban population.

Today the university is composed of two separately accredited institutions--USF and USF St. Petersburg. USF consists of the main research campus--1913 acres in size--in Tampa and two regional campuses, USF St. Sarasota-Manatee and USF Polytechnic in Lakeland.

Federal funds for academic research and development at USF increased 318 percent from 2000 to 2007, making the school the fastest-growing research university in the United States, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. In the academic year 2008-2009, the university reached a new high with $380.4 million in research grants and contracts.

The University of South Florida was the first campus in the country to reach an accord with the Department of Veterans Affairs to have specialized academic guidance services for veterans, taking advantage of the Post-9/11 Veterans Education Bill.

USF is divided into the following academic units:

• College of Arts & Sciences
• College of Business
• College of Education
• College of Engineering
• College of Health Sciences
• College of Marine Science
• College of Medicine
• College of Nursing
• College of Public Health
• College of Visual & Performing Arts
• Honors College
• School of Accountancy
• School of Architecture & Community Design
• School of Art and Art History
• School of Library and Information Science
• School of Music
• School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences
• School of Theatre and Dance Arts

USF competes in the NCAA Division I Conference rivals in 17 varsity sports. The university is a member of the Big East Athletic Conference.

Notable alumni include Terry Bollea (Hulk Hogan), professional wrestler; comedians Elayne Boosler and Leo Gallagher; Alan Boss, astrophysicist; Robert B. Carter, Vice President for FedEX;Mark Chung, professional soccer player; Mario Diaz-Balart, U.S. Representative; Lauren Hutton, supermodel and actor; and Mike Jenkins, football cornerback for the Dallas Cowboys.

Highlights (vs. Other Schools)

• Many students concentrating in science, drama and performing arts, and religion and philosophy.
• Large number of students.
• Large number of programs of study offered.
• Affordable tuition & fees.
• High faculty salary.
• Selective admissions.

School characteristics:

• The school is public.
• Academic calender: Semester.
• Carnegie classification: Doctoral/Research Universities, Extensive.

Features of note:

• The school offers a faculty tenure system.
• There are one or more libraries on-campus.
• Campus housing is available.
• Students may study abroad.
• Distance learning is available.
• Weekend study is an option.
• Part-time classes are available.
• ROTC.
• Athlete financial aid is awarded.

Tuition and Financial Aid (2009-2010)

Financial Aid

University Of South Florida-Main Campus participates in US Title IV financial assistance programs.

In 2009-2010, 96% of students received financial aid of some sort.

(Please refer to BrainTrack's financial aid articles section for background information.)

Similar Schools

Based on proprietary BrainTrack computer comparisons against all other US colleges, these schools appear to be most similar to University Of South Florida-Main Campus:

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Degrees Awarded (in 2009-2010)

Faculty

Tenure (2009-2010):

Students

Student enrollment was 46,189 in 2009-2010 (33,366 full-time equivalent).

About 42% of the freshmen class in 2009-2010 was male and women were 58% of the class.

Undergrads are 75% of enrolled students, graduate students are 24%, and those seeking first-professional graduate degrees represent 1%.

Students under 25 years old represent 64% of the student body. About 7% of the school is at least 40 years of age.

Among freshmen students, 97% are full-time and 3% are part-time.

Admissions Summary (2009-2010)

SAT Test Scores:

Room and Board

University Of South Florida-Main Campus provides on-campus housing for 4,926 of its 33,366 (full-time) students (as of 2009-2010). The school requires freshmen to live on campus.

Athletics

School sports include football, basketball, baseball, and track. The school is in the Big East Conference for major sports.

The school offers financial aid for athletes. Of students receiving athletic financial aid, 176 male students received the aid (men were 60% of those receiving aid) and 117 women were awarded financial aid based on athletics (representing 40% of students receiving such aid) .

Graduate School Focus

University Of South Florida-Main Campus offers graduate (post-Bachelor) studies. The highest degree offered is the Doctorate (Research/Scholarship & Professional Practice).

Graduate offerings include medical degrees.The school's Graduate School Carnegie Classification is Comprehensive Doctoral With Medical/Veterinary.

Programs of Study

(Number of degrees in 2009-2010 in parentheses)

ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING (28 awarded)

• Architecture (BArch, BA/BS, MArch, MA/MS, PhD)

ART STUDIES (56 awarded)

• Art/Art Studies

BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT (1,565 awarded)

• Accounting
• Business Administration and Management
• Business/Commerce
• Business/Managerial Economics
• Entrepreneurship/Entrepreneurial Studies
• Finance
• International Business/Trade/Commerce
• Management Information Systems
• Marketing/Marketing Management

COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (95 awarded)

• Computer Engineering
• Computer and Information Sciences
• Information Science/Studies
• Information Technology

CONSERVATION AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (51 awarded)

• Environmental Science
• Environmental Studies

DRAMA AND PERFORMING ARTS (81 awarded)

• Dance
• Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts
• Visual and Performing Arts

EDUCATION AND TEACHING (1,063 awarded)

• Adult and Continuing Education and Teaching
• Counselor Education/School Counseling and Guidance Services
• Curriculum and Instruction
• Early Childhood Education and Teaching
• Education/Teaching Individuals - Specific Learning Disabilities
• Education/Teaching of Individuals with Emotional Disturbances
• Education/Teaching of Individuals with Mental Retardation
• Education/Teaching of the Gifted and Talented
• Educational Leadership and Administration
• Elementary Education and Teaching
• English/Language Arts Teacher Education
• Foreign Language Teacher Education
• Mathematics Teacher Education
• Music Teacher Education
• Physical Education Teaching and Coaching
• Reading Teacher Education
• Science Teacher Education/General Science Teacher Education
• Social Science Teacher Education
• Special Education and Teaching
• Teaching English as Second/Foreign Language/ESL Language Instructor
• Trade and Industrial Teacher Education

ENGINEERING (546 awarded)

• Biomedical/Medical Engineering
• Chemical Engineering
• Civil Engineering
• Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering
• Engineering
• Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering
• Industrial Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering

FAMILY AND SOCIAL WORK (197 awarded)

• Public Administration
• Social Work

FINE ARTS (75 awarded)

• Art History, Criticism and Conservation
• Fine/Studio Arts

LIBERAL ARTS (1,810 awarded)

• African-American/Black Studies
• American/United States Studies/Civilization
• Anthropology
• Classics/Classical Languages, Lit & Linguistics
• Creative Writing
• Economics
• English Language and Literature
• French Language and Literature
• General Studies
• Geography
• German Language and Literature
• History
• Humanities/Humanistic Studies
• International Relations and Affairs
• Italian Language and Literature
• Latin American Studies
• Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies
• Library Science/Librarianship
• Linguistics
• Political Science and Government
• Social Sciences
• Sociology
• Spanish Language and Literature
• Speech and Rhetorical Studies
• Women's Studies

MATHEMATICS (38 awarded)

• Mathematics
• Statistics

MEDIA (225 awarded)

• Mass Communication/Media Studies

MEDICAL ADMINISTRATION (15 awarded)

• Health/Health Care Administration/Management

MEDICAL SUPPORT AND TECHNOLOGY (138 awarded)

• Audiology/Audiologist and Hearing Sciences
• Audiology/Audiologist and Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist
• Clinical Laboratory Science/Medical Technology/Technologist

MEDICINE (299 awarded)

• Gerontology
• Medicine (MD)
• Public Health, General (MPH, DPH)
• Public Health

MUSIC (45 awarded)

• Music Performance

NURSING AND EMERGENCY MEDICINE (417 awarded)

• Nursing Science (MS, PhD)
• Nursing/Registered Nurse (RN, ASN, BSN, MSN)

NUTRITION AND EXERCISE THERAPY (36 awarded)

• Athletic Training/Trainer
• Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling/Counselor

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY (74 awarded)

• Philosophy
• Religion/Religious Studies

SCIENCE (955 awarded)

• Bioinformatics
• Biological and Biomedical Sciences
• Biological and Physical Sciences
• Biology/Biological Sciences
• Biomedical Sciences
• Biotechnology
• Chemistry
• Geology/Earth Science
• Medical Microbiology and Bacteriology
• Oceanography, Chemical and Physical
• Oncology and Cancer Biology
• Physics

SECURITY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT (361 awarded)

• Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Administration
• Criminology

THERAPY AND COUNSELING (581 awarded)

• Bioethics/Medical Ethics
• Physical Therapy/Therapist
• Psychology
• School Psychology