University of South Florida

About University of South Florida

The University of South Florida (USF) is a high-impact public research university headquartered in Tampa, Florida. Founded in 1956, it is one of the youngest institutions ever elected to the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU) and serves as one of Florida's designated Preeminent State Research Universities, serving over 50,000 students across the Tampa Bay metropolitan region. Classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity," USF generated more than $690 million in research contracts and expenditures, consistently ranking in the top 15 public universities in the United States and top 20 globally for U.S. utility patents granted. Under a unified institutional accreditation model by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), USF operates three distinct geographic campuses tailored to unique student experiences: USF Tampa (the 1,560-acre flagship research core housing medical towers, engineering complexes, central athletics, and residence villages), USF St. Petersburg (an urban, waterfront campus set along Bayboro Harbor celebrated for marine science, journalism, and environmental policy), and USF Sarasota-Manatee (a boutique regional campus dedicated to hospitality management, business administration, and education). Academic eminence is anchored by USF Health—encompassing the Morsani College of Medicine (featuring a state-of-the-art skyscraper facility in downtown Tampa's Water Street district), the Taneja College of Pharmacy, the College of Nursing, and the College of Public Health—operating in close clinical partnership with Moffitt Cancer Center and Tampa General Hospital. USF is equally celebrated for the Muma College of Business (specializing in corporate finance, fintech, supply chain, and sport entertainment), the College of Engineering (pioneering AI, cybersecurity, and nanomedicine), and the world-renowned College of Marine Science operating dedicated oceanographic research vessels in the Gulf of Mexico.