USF RANKINGS & POINTS OF PRIDE
Updated on 5/27/15
Research
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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.

USF is ranked 43rd in the nation for total research expenditures, among all U.S. universities, public
or private by the National Science Foundation (2013).

USF is ranked 27th in total research expenditures among public universities by the National Science
Foundation (2013).

USF ranks 12th world-wide for granted U.S. patents among all universities according to the
Intellectual Property Owners Association/NAI (2013), and has ranked in the Top 15 worldwide
among all universities for U.S. patents granted for the past four years (2010-2013).

The Chronicle of Higher Education ranked USF as the fifth fastest growing research university in the
U.S. from 2000-2010.

USF was awarded a record $428.3 million in research contracts and grants in fiscal year 2014.

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 (2012).

USF ranks in the Top 10 nationally for patents and in the Top 15 for startup companies and number
of licenses and options, when compared to other U.S. universities in the most recent survey by the
Association of University Technology Managers (2013).

USF had a record breaking year in Technology Transfer in 2014, with 91 license/options, 11 new
startup companies, 190 patent disclosures and 113 new patents.

USF’s Tampa Bay Technology Incubator is currently home to 62 resident and affiliate companies
and growing.
Compiled by the USF Office of Decision Support, Planning & Analysis
Updated May 27, 2015

USF is the founder and home of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), a non-profit member
organization with over 3,000 individual inventor members and Fellows spanning more than 200
U.S. universities, and governmental and non-profit research institutions. The USF Chapter of the
NAI has over 300 USF faculty, staff, students and alumni members, who collectively hold more than
1,740 U.S. patents.

The Florida Inventors Hall of Fame (FloridaInvents.org) was founded at USF in 2013 and is one of
only five state inventors’ halls of fame in the nation. Six outstanding Florida inventors were
inducted in 2014, including Shyam Mohapatra from USF Health.
Academic Value

USF ranks 40th on Forbes’ Top 100 Best Buy Colleges (2012).

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).

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 379 Colleges: 2015 Edition.

USF ranks among the top tier of colleges listed in the USNWR Best Colleges 2015, ranking in the
top 100 of best public schools.

According to the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Ranking (2014), USF ranks
among the top 275 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 (2014).

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 (#13), the only
Florida program included (2015).
Compiled by the USF Office of Decision Support, Planning & Analysis
Updated May 27, 2015

USF was named one of the Top 100 Best Values in Public Colleges (#52) by Kiplinger’s Personal
Finance for 2015.

Many USF graduate level programs continue to be ranked among the best according to the
2016 USNWR Graduate School Rankings. USF graduate programs ranked in the top 50 include:
o Industrial and Organizational Psychology (#4)
o Audiology (#12)
o Public Health (#16)
o Criminology (#22)
o Library and Information Studies (#24)
o Rehabilitation Counseling (#24)
o Nursing (#38)
o Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering (#45)
o Speech-Language Pathology (#45)

USF is ranked among the best in according to the 2015 USNWR’s Online Education Program
rankings. USF graduate programs ranked in the top 50 include:
o Engineering (#17)
o Education (#20)
o Business (non-MBA) (#27)

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), according to the
2012 rankings released by Brigham Young University (BYU).

USF ranks among the top 275 world-class colleges and universities according to the Times
Higher Education World University Rankings (2014) which measures universities across their
core missions of teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

According to the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) (2014), USF ranks among the
top 300 of the best colleges and universities in the world.

BusinessWeek ranks many of USF’s undergraduate business programs in their Best
Undergraduate Business School rankings, including 25th for Information Systems (2013).
Compiled by the USF Office of Decision Support, Planning & Analysis
Updated May 27, 2015
Awards and Recognition

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 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 46 national scholarship and fellowship student awardees for 2012-13 academic
year.

In the 2012-13 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, the only 2
Sloan research fellowships awarded in Florida, 3 NSF CAREER awards, 5 NAI fellowships, and 4
Core 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.

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.

For 2014, USF faculty were awarded 81 highly prestigious awards, including Fellows of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), an AAU-recognized honor. USF
ranked 4th worldwide for organizations with the most AAAS Fellows named in 2014.

According to College Degree Search, USF ranks 30th for the most beautiful conservatories and
schools of music (2015).
Compiled by the USF Office of Decision Support, Planning & Analysis
Updated May 27, 2015
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 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 5th among the country’s most veteran-friendly schools by Military Times’ Best
for Vets: Colleges 2015 rankings.

USF was ranked 1st among the country’s most veteran-friendly schools by Military Times’ Best
for Vets: Nursing 2015 rankings.

USF’s College of Business was ranked 26th by Military Times’ Best for Vets: Business School 2015
rankings.

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 99th nationally for social mobility, research and civic engagement according to
Washington Monthly (2014).

USF is one of only 22 institutions on the 2014 Green Rating Honor Roll list by Princeton Review.
Compiled by the USF Office of Decision Support, Planning & Analysis
Updated May 27, 2015

USF is featured in Princeton Review’s Guide to 353 Green Colleges: 2015 Edition as one of 353
institutions of higher education that demonstrate a strong commitment to sustainability in their
academic offerings, campus infrastructure, activities and career preparation.

According to the Sierra magazine’s "America’s Coolest Schools" rankings, USF ranks 7th among
American universities and colleges for advances in sustainability in research and education
(2014).

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).

According to Best Colleges, USF ranks 36th on the Greenest Universities in America rankings
(2015).
Compiled by the USF Office of Decision Support, Planning & Analysis
Updated May 27, 2015