At a Glance
USF admits 40.7% of applicants.
What You'll Actually Pay
See what families at different income levels actually pay after aid.
What families actually pay, by income level
After grants and scholarships. Before loans. Public school prices shown at in-state rates.
Source: College Scorecard / IPEDS, 2024-25
Where the Sticker Price Goes
Based on average need-based grant. Actual cost varies by family income — see chart above.
Shown at in-state rates.
Debt at Graduation
42.4%
receive need-based grant aid
$20,773
average debt at graduation
USF graduates carry an average of $20,773 in debt.
Merit Aid
4,208
students received merit aid
$3,367
average merit award
Getting In
USF admits 40.7% of applicants.
SAT — Middle 50% of those who submitted · 78% of the class submitted
ACT — Middle 50% of those who submitted · 22% of the class submitted
29.1% were in the top 10% of their high school class.
What They Value
Academic
Nonacademic
University of South Florida gives essays less weight than many schools — academics drive most admissions decisions here. Demonstrated interest is Not Considered here — campus visits and emails to admissions won't affect your odds.
Student Life
36.8% of USF classes have fewer than 20 students.
Share of undergraduate class sections at each size, from CDS Section I-3. More red = more large lectures.
At USF, 36.8% of your classes will have fewer than 20 students.
Class size data reflects all undergraduate sections including labs, seminars, and lectures. Large research universities often have smaller upper-division and graduate-level sections that improve the overall distribution. First and second-year students typically experience larger classes than these averages suggest.
Source: Common Data Set 2025–26, Section I-3 (class sizes)
22:1
student:faculty ratio
Campus Life
From out of state (freshman class)
11.3%
Live on campus
19.34%
Men in fraternities
1.95%
Women in sororities
3.9%
Who Attends
Racial and ethnic breakdown of enrolled undergraduates, as reported in each school's Common Data Set. "Unknown / Other" includes students who did not report or selected "other."
USF's student body is 42.5% white.
Popular Majors
Will They Graduate?
USF graduates 65.8% of students in 4 years.
Graduating late means paying for extra semesters. The 6-year rate tells you who eventually finishes — the 4-year rate tells you what it actually costs.
USF graduates 65.8% of students in 4 years.
What finishing late actually costs
Based on each school's published cost of attendance. Public school costs shown at in-state rates.
USF
65.8%
4-yr grad rate
Extra year cost: $22,859*
* In-state cost of attendance. Out-of-state students pay significantly more.
Graduation rate data from Common Data Set 2025–26, Fall 2018 cohort (most recent available). 4-year rate = students completing in 4 years or less. 6-year rate = students completing within 6 years.
78%
Overall 6-yr rate
77%
Pell recipient rate
Lower-income students graduate at nearly the same rate as their peers — a sign of strong institutional support.
Freshman Retention
91.4%
91.4% of first-year students return for sophomore year.
City & Culture
Beyond the data — what it's actually like to spend four years in Tampa.
Tampa is a major Gulf Coast metro and the anchor of the Tampa Bay area, alongside St. Petersburg and Clearwater — a growing hub for finance, insurance, and health care. USF's main campus sits in suburban north Tampa, about 9 miles from downtown, rather than in the city center.
Notable Alumni
Mark Consuelos
Earned a B.A. in Marketing in 1994 and became an actor and talk-show host.
Class of 1994
Jason Pierre-Paul
Attended USF for one season before being drafted 15th overall by the New York Giants; won Super Bowl XLVI.
Alan Boss
Earned a B.S. in Physics in 1973 and became an astrophysicist at the Carnegie Institution for Science.
Class of 1973
Pam Iorio
Earned a master's degree in History from USF and served as Mayor of Tampa from 2003 to 2011.
Class of 2001
Alumni selected for name recognition and range of fields. Not from the Common Data Set.
The City
Major city
Tampa, FL
Best For
Traditions
Rocky the Bull
USF's mascot since 1965, with its current design dating to 2003.
SuperBull Homecoming
USF's homecoming tradition dates to 1964 and was renamed SuperBull in 1997, with a parade and pep rallies each fall.
Weekend Escapes
Within driving distance from Tampa
St. Petersburg and Clearwater Beach
About 45-50 minutesTampa Bay's own Gulf Coast beaches.
Walt Disney World and Orlando's theme parks
About 1 hour 15 minutesFlorida's theme-park corridor, a straightforward drive east.
Getting There & Game Days
Nearest airport
Tampa International Airport (TPA)
About 25-30 minutes from campus
Flies international — you can start a trip abroad from here.
Pro sports nearby
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFLAbout 30 minutes away
- Tampa Bay Lightning NHLAbout 25 minutes away
- Tampa Bay Rays MLBAbout 30-40 minutes away
Career Proximity
Tampa Bay is a growing regional hub for finance, insurance, and health care, anchored by major banks' and insurers' regional operations centers.
Top Industries Nearby
Major Employers
- Citi
- JPMorgan Chase
- USAA
- DTCC
- BayCare Health System
Downtown Tampa, about 9 miles from campus
Who Thrives Here
USF admits 40.7% of applicants and requires SAT or ACT scores rather than making them optional; the middle 50% of enrolled first-years who submitted scored 1160-1340 on the SAT. In-state tuition and fees run $6,410 against $18,416 for everyone else, and 81.5% of the entering class comes from Florida. The 39,093-undergraduate student body is genuinely mixed — 42.5% white, 25.1% Hispanic, 9.1% Asian and 8.0% Black. USF became an Association of American Universities (AAU) member in 2023, joining the country's most selective research-university consortium, and its admit rate has tightened accordingly compared to other large Florida publics. Campus life is still largely commuter-shaped: 19.3% of undergraduates live on campus. The trade-offs are the ones that come with scale. Teaching runs at 22 students per faculty member and 36.8% of class sections have fewer than 20 students. 65.8% graduate in four years and 78.0% within six, aid covers 64.0% of demonstrated need, and graduates who borrow leave owing $20,773.