University of South Florida
The University of South Florida is a public institution located in Tampa, Florida. It was created in 1956 specifically for the purpose of meeting the needs of Florida’s growing urban population. It has since grown to include a campus in St. Petersburg, plus the Sarasota-Manatee campus, USF Polytechnic, USF Health and the downtown center. In total, there are 46,000 students enrolled at USF, making it the ninth largest public university in the country, with 39,000 of those students located at the 1,700-acre main campus in Tampa. The student to faculty ratio at USF is 19:1.
Academic programs at the University of South Florida provide a total of 219 separate degrees, including eighty-nine bachelor’s degrees, ninety-one master’s degrees, two specialist degrees (in education), thirty-six doctoral degrees and one professional degree (in medicine). In addition to graduate school and the honors college, there are seven different colleges that award degrees to students of USF: the colleges of the arts & sciences, the behavior & community sciences, business, education, engineering, marine science and the arts. The United States Army, Navy and Air Force maintain Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programs at USF.
The University of South Florida is accredited by the Commission on Colleges Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), a regional accreditation agency recognized by the United States Department of Education. SACS provides accreditation to institutions within an eleven-state area, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Some accreditation is also extended to parts of Latin America. (SACSCOC, 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033 – (404)679-4500 – Fax: (404)679-4558).
