USF RANKINGS & POINTS OF PRIDE
Updated on 2/24/14
General
 USF is one of the nation’s top 73 public research very high universities and one of 40 public
research universities nationwide with very high research activity that is designated as the
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.
Research
 USF ranked 43rd in the nation for total research expenditures, among all U.S. universities, public
or private, by the National Science Foundation (NSF, Fiscal Year 2012).
 USF ranked 34rd in total research expenditures and 27th in federal research expenditures for
public universities (NSF, Fiscal Year 2012).
 USF ranked in 15th world-wide for granted U.S. patents among all universities according to the
Intellectual Property Owners Association (2013).
 USF was awarded $411.1 million in research contracts and grants in FY 2012.
 The Chronicle of Higher Education ranked USF as the 5th fastest growing research university in
the U.S. from 2000-2010.
 USF’s College of Marine Science successfully competed for one of eight research centers
worldwide, funded at $11M 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.
 USF was in the top 15 for the number of startup companies and in the top 25 for the number of
licenses and options, when compared to other U.S. universities in the most recent survey by the
Association of University Technology Managers (2012).
 USF’s Tampa Bay Technology Incubator is currently home to 42 resident and affiliate companies
and growing.
 USF is the founder and home of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), a non-profit member
organization with over 2,000 individual inventor members and Fellows spanning more than 100
U.S. universities, and governmental and non-profit research institutions. The USF Chapter of the
NAI has 270 USF faculty, staff, students and alumni members, who collectively hold more than
1,400 U.S. patents.
Academic Value
 USF ranks #40 among Forbes’ 2012 list of top 100 best buy colleges.
 USF is recognized by Princeton Review as one of the top 75 Best College Values (2014).
 Many of USF’s Social Science programs rank as top programs in the country: Overall Social
Science (#85), Anthropology (#78), Economics (#29), Political Science (#61), Psychology (#88),
Sociology (#80) (Center for Public Anthropology, 2013).
Compiled by the USF Office of Decision Support, Planning & Analysis
Updated February 24, 2014
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USF’s part-time MBA is the top program among Florida’s 12 state universities, and No. 16 among
public schools in the nation (Bloomberg BusinessWeek, 2013).
USF is named in Princeton Review’s Best 378 Colleges: 2014 Edition. USF has consistently been
listed among the best colleges identified, appearance on specific listings vary by year.
USF ranks among the top tier of colleges listed in the USNWR Best Colleges 2014, ranking in the
top 100 of best public schools.
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) (2013), USF ranks among the
top 300 of the best colleges and universities in the world.
According to the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Ranking (2013), USF ranks
among the top 350 of the best colleges and universities in the world.
According to the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings, USF ranks as one of the
top universities in the world (2013).
Quacquarelli Symonds Stars (QS Stars) rated USF with 4 stars (2013), indicating that USF is
“highly international, demonstrating excellence in both research and teaching.”
In the 2014 edition of the U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges, USF is ranked 14th 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 2014.
USNWR Names USF College of Education as one of America’s best graduate schools for the 10 th
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 (2014) for the
engineering (#26) and education (#36) 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 (2013).
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 29 th), according to the
2012 rankings released by Brigham Young University (BYU).
Awards & Recognition
Compiled by the USF Office of Decision Support, Planning & Analysis
Updated February 24, 2014
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Popular Science magazine has named Mya Breitbart, USF Associate Professor of biological
oceanography, as one of its "Brilliant Ten," on its annual list of some of the country's brightest
young scientific minds (2013).
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 by the Institute of International Education and the U.S. Department of State’s
Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, as one of 2012 Fulbright Scholarship “Top
Producers”.
In November 2011, the first USF student in the institutions’ history was awarded the prestigious
postgraduate Marshall Scholarship.
USF is home to 46 national scholarship and fellowship student awardees (2012-13 academic
year).
In the 2012-13 AY, USF faculty were awarded 73 highly prestigious awards, including Carnegie
Foundation/CASE U.S. Professor of the Year, a record 15 AAAS fellowships, the only 2 Sloan
research fellowships awarded in Florida, 3 NSF CAREER awards, 5 NAI fellowships, and 4 Core
Fulbrights, to name a few.
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.
USF was one of only five institutions to receive NAFSA’s 2013 Senator Paul Simon Award for
Comprehensive Internationalization.
USF’s Ghana Scholars Program selected by the Institute of International Education (IIE) as the
Honorable Mention for the 2013 Andrew Heiskell Award for International Partnerships, which
recognizes strategic, comprehensive, and innovative international partnership efforts.
Diversity
 USF has been named one of the top 50 Colleges Advancing Women in Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Math (STEM) (The College Database, 2013).
 The USF College of Engineering ranked in the top five nationally in conferring engineering
doctorates to both African American and Hispanic/Latino students (Diverse Issues in Higher
Education, 2013).
 With a student body representing over 130 different countries, USF is one of the 40 most diverse
national 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 Top Degree Producers.
Veteran Friendly
 USF was ranked 4th among the country’s most veteran-friendly schools by Military Times Edge’s
Best for Vets: Colleges 2013 rankings (November 2012).
Compiled by the USF Office of Decision Support, Planning & Analysis
Updated February 24, 2014
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USF ranks in the top 15% of all colleges, universities and trade schools nation-wide as a Military
Friendly School®, as named by G.I. Jobs magazine.
USF is one of only 16 universities in the nation selected as a Tillman Partnership University of the
Pat Tillman Foundation, a selection based on innovative veteran-specific support services and
proven culture of community for military families.
U.S. News and World Report ranked USF as a Best College for Veterans (2013).
Social Responsibility
 USF is ranked 78th nationally, out of more than 1,500 institutions of higher education, for social
mobility, research and civic engagement, according to Washington Monthly.
 USF is one of only 22 institutions on the 2014 Green Rating Honor Roll list by Princeton Review,
as well as featured in Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green Colleges: 2013 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, 2014).
Compiled by the USF Office of Decision Support, Planning & Analysis
Updated February 24, 2014