Points of Pride

In the region, in the state, in the nation and across the globe, the University of South Florida is making an impact. Here are just a few of the distinctive attributes that make our young, vibrant and dynamic university a leading institution of higher education.

Research

• USF is one of the nation’s top 73 very high public research universities, and is one of 40 public research universities nationwide that is designated as both very high research activity and as community engaged by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

• USF is one of only four Florida public universities classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in the top tier of research universities (RU/VH), a distinction attained by only 2.3 percent of all universities.

• USF is ranked 50th in the nation for research expenditures, among all U.S. universities, public or private, for fiscal year 2010.

• USF is ranked 31st in total research expenditures and 27th in federal research expenditures for public universities by the National Science Foundation for fiscal year 2010.

• USF ranks 10th in the world among all universities granted U.S. patents in 2011, according to the Intellectual Property Owners Association, an increase of more than three percent from 2010.

• The Chronicle of Higher Education ranked USF as the fifth fastest growing research university in the U.S. from 2000-2010.

• USF was awarded $411.1 million in research contracts and grants in fiscal year 2012.

• USF’s College of Marine Science successfully competed for one of eight research centers worldwide, funded at $11 million by BP.

• USF’s College of Nursing ranks #1 in Florida and 24th among nursing schools nationwide to receive research funding from National Institutes of Health (NIH) in FY2012.

Academic Value

• USF ranks 40th on Forbes’ Top 100 Best Buy Colleges. (2012)

• USF is named in Princeton Review’s Best 377 Colleges: 2013 Edition.

• USF ranks among the top tier of colleges listed in the USNWR Best Colleges 2012, ranking in the top 100 of best public schools.

• In the 2012 edition of the U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges, USF is ranked eighth as an ‘up and coming’ university among the country’s national universities.

• The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Magazine once again rank USF’s interdisciplinary graduate entrepreneurship program among the top 25 programs in the nation (#11), the only Florida program included. (November 2012)

• USF was named one of the Top 100 Best Values in Public Colleges by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance for 2013.

• The USF Bulls excel in the classroom with 166 student-athletes named to the 2011-12 Big East All- Academic Team.

• USNWR Names USF College of Education as one of America’s best graduate schools for the 10th consecutive year.

• Many USF graduate level programs continue to be ranked among the best according to the 2014 USNWR Graduate School Rankings. Newly ranked USF graduate programs in the top 50 include Industrial and Organizational Psychology (#4), Public Health (#21), Library and Information Studies (#24), and Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering (#42). Previously ranked USF graduate programs that continue to hold a ranking in the top 50 include Audiology (#12), Criminology (#22), Rehabilitation Counseling (#30), and Speech-Language Pathology (#45).

• USF is ranked among the best in USNWR’s Online Education Program rankings (2013) for the engineering (#22) and education (#47) programs.

• USF ranks as a national leader in online education, according to the Guide to Online Schools, ranking 25th on its ‘best overall’ list of top nonprofit and for-profit schools.

• USF School of Accountancy is ranked 1st in the nation in accounting information systems research, as well as top 30 in other areas of research (audit #21 and tax 29th), according to the 2012 rankings released by Brigham Young University (BYU).

• USF ranks among the top 250 world-class colleges and universities according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (2012-2013) which measures universities across their core missions of teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

• According to the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) (2012), USF ranks among the top 300 of the best colleges and universities in the world.

Awards and Recognition

• USF is ranked 110th among all of the world’s universities in a ranking of faculty publications, according to High Impact Universities. (2010)

• USF was recognized as one of the nation’s top producers of Fulbright Scholars in 2012 by the Institute of International Education and by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

• In November 2011, the first USF student in the institutions’ history was awarded the prestigious postgraduate Marshall Scholarship.

• USF is home to 50 national scholarship and fellowship student awardees for 2011-12 academic year.

• In the 2011-12 academic year, USF faculty were awarded several prestigious awards, to include Carnegie Foundation/CASE U.S. Professor of the Year, a record 15 AAAS fellowships, NAI fellowships, and Fulbright’s.

• USF was acknowledged as an honor roll recipient of the 2013 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll by the Corporation for National and Community Service. The Honor Roll recognizes higher education institutions that reflect the values of community service and achieve meaningful outcomes in their communities.  

Diversity

• With a student body representing over 130 different countries, USF is one of the 40 most diverse public universities in the country and the second most diverse public university in the state of Florida, according to U.S. News & World Report’s recent Diversity Index ratings.

• USF ranks among the Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Top 25 Graduate Schools enrolling Hispanics. (2011)

• USF consistently ranks in the top 25 or 50 in Top 100 Colleges Awarding Degrees to Hispanic according to Diverse Issues in Higher Education.

Veteran Friendly

• USF is ranked fourth among the country’s most veteran-friendly schools by Military Times Edge. (November 2012)

• USF ranks in the top 15 percent of all colleges, universities and trade schools nation-wide as a Military Friendly School®, as named by G.I. Jobs magazine.

Sustainability

• USF is featured in Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green Colleges: 2012 Edition as one of 322 institutions of higher education that demonstrate a strong commitment to sustainability in their academic offerings, campus infrastructure, activities and career preparation.

• USF vaulted up Sierra magazine’s annual "America’s Coolest Schools" list in 2012 to 12th among American universities and colleges for advances in sustainability in research and education.

• USF is one of a small number of universities nationwide to receive a GOLD RATING for building an environmentally-conscious campus. (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, 2011)