University of South Florida
The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is home to 14 colleges, offering more than 240 undergraduate, graduate, specialist, and doctoral-level degree programs.[4][7] USF is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.[8][9][10] USF is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU) and is designated by the Florida Board of Governors as one of three Preeminent State Research Universities.[8][11]
Not to be confused with Florida Southern College.Motto
"Truth and Wisdom"
December 18, 1956
$637.8 million (2023)[1]
$2.55 billion (2023–2024)[2]
2,253[3]
48,732 (2023–2024)[3]
36,452 (2023–2024)[3]
11,114 (2022–2023)[4]
1,704 (2022–2023)[4]
Large city, Total: 1,646 acres (6.7 km2)[5]
Tampa: 1,562 acres (6.3 km2)
St. Petersburg: 52 acres (0.2 km2)
Sarasota-Manatee: 32 acres (0.1 km2)
Green and gold[6]
Founded in 1956, USF is the fourth largest university in Florida by enrollment, with 49,766 students from over 145 countries, all 50 states, all five U.S. Territories, and the District of Columbia as of the 2022–2023 academic year.[5][12]
In 2022, the university reported an annual budget of $2.31 billion and an annual economic impact of over $6 billion.[13] According to the National Science Foundation, USF spent $568 million on research and development in 2019, ranking it 43rd in the nation and 25th among public universities.[14][15] USF's $889 million endowment is the third-largest among Florida public universities and the largest of any American public university founded post-World War II.
In its 2018 ranking, the Intellectual Property Owners Association placed USF 1st in Florida, 7th in the United States, and 16th worldwide in the number of US patents granted.[16] USF faculty, staff, students, and alumni collectively hold over 2,400 patents. USF is home to the National Academy of Inventors and the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame, both located in the USF Research Park in the southwest side of campus.[17]
USF's sports teams are known as the South Florida Bulls and primarily compete in the American Athletic Conference of NCAA Division I. USF's 19 varsity teams have won a combined 6 national championships and 163 conference championships. Athletes representing the Bulls have won an additional 23 individual and relay national championships and 223 individual and relay conference championships.[18]
Campuses[edit]
University of South Florida System (1965–2020)[edit]
USF was previously identified as a university system from 1965 until 2020, but is now chartered as one university geographically distributed across three campus locations: Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee. Before being consolidated into one university geographically distributed, the University of South Florida System included three member institutions: USF Tampa (which was the flagship campus), USF St. Petersburg, and USF Sarasota-Manatee.[54] Each institution was separately accredited, had a distinct mission, and its own strategic plans.[54]
The USF System once included three other member institutions: one in Fort Myers, one in Lakeland, and a second Sarasota campus.
USF Fort Myers opened in 1982 and closed in 1997 with the opening of Florida Gulf Coast University.[57][58]
The Sarasota institution was originally a private college called New College which sold itself to USF in 1975 to pay off debt, and became New College of the University of South Florida.[59] As part of the deal, New College was allowed to keep its unique grading system.[59] It shared a campus with USF Sarasota-Manatee, which opened in 1975, but was accredited differently as USFSM was considered a branch campus rather than a member institution at the time. New College became the independent New College of Florida in 2001, but continued to share a campus with USFSM until a new one was built for USFSM in 2006.
USF Lakeland opened in 1988 and split off from the USF System in 2012 to become the independent Florida Polytechnic University.[60]
In summer 2020, the system was consolidated into "one university geographically distributed"[61]
