UTampa Recognition and Rankings

Recognition and Rankings


	The University of Tampa has been recognized for being one of the universities with the highest number of faculty selected for the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
	UTampa is regarded as one of the nation's best 389 institutions for undergraduate education by The Princeton Review. Only 15% of four-year colleges in the U.S. share this honor. In 2024, UTampa was ranked #1 and #2 in the South for its undergraduate and graduate entrepreneurship programs, and 15th and 16th in the U.S., respectively, by The Princeton Review in partnership with *Entrepreneur* magazine.
	*U.S. News & World Report* consistently ranks UTampa in the top tier of the category Regional Universities (South), and for 2022 was included as a most innovative college. The Sykes College of Business and UTampa’s nursing program were also named as top undergraduate programs, which are based solely on the judgments of deans and senior faculty members at peer institutions.
	Since 2010 UTampa has been included on Forbes' annual ranking of America's Top Colleges. The list is based on factors such as educational quality, graduation rates and career prospects.
	UTampa has won 22 NCAA Division II (2) championships in baseball, lacrosse, men’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer and women’s volleyball and women's beach volleyball and 126 Sunshine State Conference championships. UTampa’s student-athletes compete on 22 varsity teams.
	UTampa’s chapter of Phi Kappa Phi — the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society — was recognized in 2013 as a Chapter of Merit. The award is given to chapters that excel in promoting academic excellence and engaging in service to others.
	The University of Tampa is ranked in the Wall Street Journal / Times Higher Education (WSJ/THE) College Ranking 2022. UTampa was most highly scored in the area of environment, which includes faculty diversity, international students, student diversity and student inclusion.
	From 2009 to 2015 Charity Navigator awarded UTampa with a 4-star rating – the highest a charity can receive – for its ability to efficiently manage and grow its finances. Charity Navigator no longer rates colleges and universities. See UTampa's listing.
	The University of Tampa’s substantial, innovative progress toward comprehensive internationalization throughout its campus has earned it being named as one of four institutions to be awarded the 2016 Senator Paul Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization by NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
	UTampa is one of 284 colleges and universities highlighted for its exceptional outreach efforts, financial aid opportunities and student support services in the 2011 College Access & Opportunity Guide, published by the Center for Student Opportunity.
	President Ronald L. Vaughn was selected as the 2008 Business Executive of the Year and UTampa was selected 2008 Business of the Year in the education category by the *Tampa Bay Business Journal*. In the publication’s 2012 Readers’ Choice Awards, UTampa’s MBA program was listed as the “Favorite MBA program."
	The UTampa website is among the most highly rated in the country. It scored in the top 100 of all sites rated, and earned an “A” ranking, in the 14th annual My College Options® Enrollment Power Index® (EPI), an analysis of the admissions websites of nearly 3,000 colleges and universities.
	The University of Tampa has been named to *Kiplinger’s Personal Finance*’s list of the 400 Best College Values for 2019. The analysis is based on objective measurements of academic quality and affordability.
	UTampa was named as one of 30 most beautiful coastal college campuses in the United States by Best Value Schools. The ranking was based on several criteria including location, awards and recognition, student enjoyment and notable features.
	The National Weather Service certified UTampa as a StormReady community. UTampa is one of 306 colleges and universities around the country that have put special operations in place to monitor and react to severe weather conditions, such as hurricanes, tornadoes and storms.
	For the seventh consecutive year, UTampa was named to the 2022 Phi Theta Kappa Transfer Honor Roll as one of the top 171 colleges and universities in the U.S. for transfer students.
	The University of Tampa was named an Outstanding Green Business by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Gulfcoast Chapter. UTampa is committed to conserving energy and resources and currently has eight LEED-certified buildings.
	UTampa was recognized as one of 77 universities accepted into the 2020-2021 cohort of First-gen Forward institutions. The First-gen Forward designation recognizes institutions of higher education that have demonstrated a commitment to improving experiences and advancing outcomes of first-generation college students.
	*In 2019 UTampa President Ronald L. Vaughn was named to the Florida Trend* magazine “ Florida 500,” which is a list of Florida’s most influential business leaders.**
	Niche ranked UTampa as the #1 best college location in Florida, the #5 best college campus in Florida and the #6 best college dorms in Florida. Nationally, UTampa was ranked the #44 best college campus in America (out of 1,387), and #36 best college location in America.
	UTampa is a member of the Coalition for College, which represents the top 5 percent of universities in the U.S. and is committed to increasing students’ access to higher education. UTampa was invited to join based on its affordability, graduation rates and access to disadvantaged students.
	QS Quacquarelli Symonds, a global higher education research company and publisher of the “ QS World University Rankings,” in 2021 named The University of Tampa as a top university for learning experience, diversity and internationalization, research and employability.
	UTampa President Ronald L. Vaughn was awarded the 2017 William M. Burke Presidential Award for Excellence in Experiential Education by the National Society for Experiential Education.
	The University of Tampa has been ranked as the safest college campus in Florida, and the 19th safest college campus in the U.S. The ranking was compiled by YourLocalSecurity.com in its fifth annual Safest College Campuses in America report.

	UTampa’s Sykes College of Business is accredited at both the graduate and undergraduate levels by AACSB International (the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, an honor held by only 6 percent of business schools worldwide.
	The Sykes College of Business was named in 2021-2022 as one of the top business programs by *Bloomberg Businessweek* in its ranking of full-time MBA programs. UTampa was ranked 74th overall in the U.S. and 20th for learning and 23rd for diversity.
	Since 2007 UTampa's Sykes College of Business has been named by The Princeton Review as one of the best business schools in the world. Additionally, its “Student Opinion Honors for Business Schools” named the MBA-Marketing program one of the top 15, alongside programs at Duke, Harvard and HEC Paris. In 2020 UTampa was ranked the 17th and 20th top school for entrepreneurship studies for undergraduate and graduate students, respectively, by The Princeton Review in partnership with *Entrepreneur* magazine.
	UTampa is one of 39 universities in the nation that is lauded for its creative writing program in *Creative Colleges: A Guide for Student Actors, Artists, Dancers, Musicians, and Writers (2017)*.
	UTampa’s 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.
	UTampa’s Executive MBA program has been named a “best value” by *Fortune* magazine. According to 2011 data from the Executive MBA Council, UTampa is one of only 34 universities nationwide that offers an Executive MBA for less than $50,000 in total tuition.
	At the Redefining Investment Strategy Education (RISE) eighth annual Global Student Investment Forum, UTampa students who manage a $150,000 university portfolio won first place in the 2007 student-managed portfolio competition
	Students in UTampa's undergraduate nursing program have had an impressive 97% pass rate on the NCLEX-RN over the past 13 years. Comparatively over the same period, the national pass rate was 85.8%. The 2023 passage rate for Florida was 83%, where as UTampa's passage rate was 100%. The National Council of State Boards of Nursing administers this exam to test the nursing competence of candidates for licensure as registered nurses.
	UTampa is ranked among the 25 Best Bachelor’s in Sport Management Degree Programs by BachelorsDegreeCenter.org. The program is noted for combining sports theory and practical experience.
	UTampa’s Department of Nursing has been rated among the Best RN Programs in Florida by RegisteredNursing.org since 2018. More than 150 schools were analyzed using current and historical NCLEX-RN passage rates.
	UTampa’s Sykes College of Business is a member of the University Partnership Program with the National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA). The partnership provides select academic institutions an expanded pool of qualified Hispanic applicants for graduate business programs. NSHMBA is widely known as the “Premier Hispanic Organization.”
	In a 2015 *Business Insider* ranking of U.S. business schools that offer the best education for the price, the Sykes College of Business was ranked No. 7, placing it above the business schools at Notre Dame, Harvard, Duke and Ohio State in areas such as value, financial aid and quality of education.
	The Lowth Entrepreneurship Center at the University of Tampa has been awarded the Entrepreneurship Teaching and Pedagogical Innovation Award by the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC). The GCEC awards are judged by peer entrepreneurship directors to recognize the very best in entrepreneurship education.
	The Lowth Entrepreneurship Center in the University of Tampa’s Sykes College of Business was awarded the National Model Program Award for undergraduate entrepreneurship programs by the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship® (USASBE) in 2016.
<	College Values Online ranked UTampa’s Marine Science-Biology program as the No. 9 best value, and Bioexplorer ranked our marine science program No. 10 nationally.
	In 2020 *CEO Magazine* rated UTampa’s MBA a top-tier program in the world, and ranked UTampa’s Executive MBA No. 64 out of 87. Programs were assessed on quality of faculty, international diversity and exposure, class size, accreditation, price and more.
	Three UTampa programs were recognized by PLEXUSS: The Student Opportunity Network in its 2021 PLEXUSS Global Rankings. Specifically, UTampa was ranked No. 1 in Florida in three categories: forensic science programs, computer forensics programs, and network and system administration programs.
	For the past two years UTampa has been named among the “Best of the Best” by readers of the *Tampa Bay Times*. In 2020 UTampa received a bronze for Best Local College, a bronze for Best Nursing School and a silver for Best Graduate School.
	In 2021 RNCareers.org ranked UTampa #2 in Florida and #22 in the nation, with an average NCLEX first-time passage rate of 98.52% for the last three years.
	UTampa’s full-time MBA program was named among the Top 100 U.S. MBA Programs by Poets & Quants for 2020-2021. The ranking combines the five most influential lists from U.S. News & World Report, the Financial Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes and The Economist.
	UTampa’s M.S. in Instructional Design and Technology program was named among the Best 15 Masters in Instructional Design Programs by Best Value Schools in 2021.
	UTampa's nursing program was ranked among the best private nursing schools nationwide by the Nursing Schools Almanac in 2022. UTampa's program was ranked second overall in the Tampa Bay area, sixth overall in Florida and #30 overall in the Southeast region.


	UTampa is consistently recognized as a Military Friendly School by VIQTORY, a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business.
	From 2007 to 2015, UTampa was regularly named to the former President’s Service Honor Roll for its work on service-learning programs and volunteer opportunities for students, faculty and staff, who serve 300,000 hours annually at more than 300 organizations.
	The Minaret, UTampa’s student newspaper, was named best college newspaper in the Florida College Press Association’s (FCPA) 2008 Better Newspaper Contest. The paper received the same award in 2007. The newspaper’s online edition was named the country’s best small school website by the Associated Collegiate Press in 2010 and was recently named a finalist in the 2013 ACP Online Pacemaker contest. In the 2013 FCPA awards, The Minaret was named the third best weekly student newspaper and the best college magazine in Florida. The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) recognized The Minaret in its 2012 Mark of Excellence Awards winners from Region 3 with a second place in the category Best All-Around Non-Daily Student Newspaper (Medium).
	The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge is a national organization that empowers colleges and universities to achieve excellence in nonpartisan student democratic engagement. The University has been recognized as a 2024 ALL IN Most Engaged Campus for College Student Voting. The ALL IN Most Engaged Campuses for College Student Voting recognizes colleges and universities for making intentional efforts to increase student voter participation.
	In its report, 2022's Best & Worst College Towns & Cities in America, WalletHub ranked Tampa second best in the country for large college cities. Tampa was noted for its lower cost of living, the social environment including the share of the population age 18 to 35, and the academic and economic opportunities including the earning potential of graduates.
	Her Campus, an online magazine for college women, has included the University of Tampa in its 2011 Her Campus College Rankings. On a list of 10 top destination schools, UTampa came in at number 4 for being one of the best colleges for education and leisure.
	UTampa’s intramural sports program has been honored by BestColleges.com as one of the Top 50 Best Intramural Sports Programs in the nation. The ranking is based on factors such as efficient team organization, number/frequency of programs, quality of facilities and leadership.
	UTampa is “hot and trendy,” according to The Unofficial, Biased Guide to the 328 Most Interesting Colleges (2004). The list was based on responses from high school guidance counselors across the nation.
	UTampa is listed as 46th of 100 colleges that are “excellent and deserve to be put on your own list” in Harvard Schmarvard (2003). A counselor is quoted as saying UTampa has an “unbelievable business building and a rapidly growing arts program.”
	UTampa’s responsiveness to student needs helped it to be named in The Best 201 Colleges for the Real World (2000). UTampa’s continuing studies program, MBA program and “culture without going through customs” were listed as some of its unique features.