University of Tampa - Academics

Academics

UT offers nearly 100 degree programs and areas of study for undergraduate and graduate students. The graduate school offers nine master's degree programs and seven concentrations, and is accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). An evening school is also offered for students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Classes are kept small, maintaining a 15-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio. UT employs no teaching assistants.

Beginning in 2007, the University was re-organized into four colleges: the College of Natural and Health Sciences; the College of Math, Education, and Social Sciences; the College of Business; and the College of Arts & Letters. As of 2006, the graduate school had a separate dean and budget, allowing it to operate independently from the more undergraduate-focused programs.

Some of UT's most popular majors include communication, biology, marine science, management, criminology, and a four-year nursing program.

UT recently began work on a journalism major, and a minor is already in place. The student-run newspaper, The Minaret, has won back-to-back awards as "Florida's Top College Paper". Writers have won numerous awards from the Florida College Press Association. The Minaret was also named a finalist in the Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker awards, marking the student paper as one of the top 25 weekly college newspapers in the country.

UT provides graduate programs in the Business, Education, Nursing, Fine Arts, and Nonprofit industries. Its Business programs includes a MBA with available concentrations in Entrepreneurship, Finance, Information Systems Management, Innovation Management, International Business, Marketing, and Nonprofit Management. Other graduate business degrees include M.S. in Finance, M.S. in Marketing, or a Certificate in Nonprofit Management. The Master of Education, Master of Science in Nursing, and Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing are also offered at UT.

UT's undergraduate literary journal, Quilt (originally Quill), has been published by students since 1978. Quilt hosts numerous events throughout the academic year, particularly open mic nights, which are open to the public. Yearly, Quilt hosts a prominent writer for "Coffeehouse Weekend"; recent visitors have included Kate Greenstreet and Dorothy Allison.

To aid students in the pursuit of a degree, the University offers several learning communities. The Academic Center for Excellence (ACE) provides students with free tutoring in a variety of subjects by students who have passed the relevant classes with an A grade and also have passed a rigorous competency exam in their chosen tutoring area. The Saunders Writing Center provides students with a free tutoring service for writing documents ranging from research papers to resumes. UT was one of the first schools to implement a two-semester freshman orientation program. These “Gateways” classes are taught by UT professors, who volunteer an hour each week, covering topics from time management and study tips to the history of UT and the Tampa Bay area. In addition, each student's Gateways professor helps with scheduling second- and third-semester courses, and selecting a personal academic advisor, also a professor, for guidance throughout college.

UT also offers a host of international study-abroad options led by UT professors. The University is an associate member of the European Council of International Schools (ECIS).

The University of Tampa has an Honors Program which "allows students to go beyond the classroom and regular course work to study one-on-one with faculty through enrichment tutorials, Honors Abroad, internships, research and classroom-to-community outreach."

The University of Tampa retains several recognition and rankings from different sources. It is included in Forbes' fourth annual ranking of America's Best Colleges; in Creative Colleges: A Guide for Student Actors, Artists, Dancers, Musicians, and Writers (2008) where it is one of sven universities in the Southeast for its creative writing program; the Sykes College of Business has been named by The Princeton Review as an outstanding business school for the sixth year in a row- and one of the 294 best business schools in the world, as well as the MBA Marketing program listed as one of the top 15 programs in the country; in 2010 the National Council of State Boards of Nursing named UT a No. 1 nursing program in the country based on UT students’ success on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). One-hundred percent of UT’s 2009 and 2010 classes of nursing graduates passed the NCLEX-RN on the first try; the Sykes College of Business was ranked 47th in the category of "Excellent Business Schools" in the U.S. in the Eduniversal Worldwide Business Schools Ranking 2011; for four straight years, UT has been named to the President’s Service Honor Roll, sponsored by The Corporation for National and Community Service, for its work on service-learning programs and volunteer opportunities for students, faculty and staff; U.S. News & World Report has ranked UT in the top tier in the category Universities–Master’s (South), the Sykes College of Business as the 215th "Best Business School," the part-time MBA in the 2012 edition of "Best Business Schools," and one of 10 "Best Colleges to Avoid Winter;" the Sykes College of Business is one of only 19 private schools in the Southeast accredited at both the graduate and undergraduate levels by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International); UT is one of only 33 nationwide universities with information systems program accreditation by the Computing Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET); and in 2011, UT's applied sociology concentration received formal accreditation from the Commission on the Accreditation of Programs in Applied and Clinical Sociology (CAPACS).

UT has also received – and maintains – accreditation with the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education, Florida Board of Nursing, Florida Department of Education, National Association of Schools of Music, the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission, ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology), Commission on the Accreditation of Programs in Applied and Clinical Sociology (CAPACS), American Chemical Society, American Association of Museums and the Florida State Approving Agency for Veterans’ Training.