The University of Tampa

The University of Tampa is a comprehensive, independent university that delivers challenging and high-quality educational experiences to a diverse group of learners. Four colleges offer more than 200 areas of study through a core curriculum rooted in a liberal arts tradition. Beginning with an innovative first-year student experience, University of Tampa students explore global issues, examine career possibilities, and refine communication and critical thinking skills.Graduate programs in each college, as well as a continuing studies program for adult learners, exemplify the University’s commitment to the professions and to the community.

The University’s 110-acre residential campus in the heart of downtown Tampa provides an historical and cultural setting for learning both on and off campus. Valuing the community’s international heritage, the University attracts students, faculty, and staff from around the world with diverse backgrounds to facilitate intercultural awareness and understanding.

The University is committed to the development of each student to become a productive and responsible citizen. To this end, the University ensures that students balance “learning by thinking” with “learning by doing.” Students are taught by highly qualified, experienced faculty members who are committed to teaching, academic advising and continued intellectual growth. Classes are conducted in personalized settings in which learning is enhanced through application.

Students participate in learning partnerships with faculty and the community through independent studies, internships, research, and other practical experiences that complement classroom learning. The University’s academic services and co-curricular activities support individual discovery and development and provide leadership opportunities. Involvement and participation inside and outside the classroom are valued. Through complete engagement with the educational environment, UT students are prepared for careers, graduate and professional education, and lifelong learning.

Since 1931, The University of Tampa has provided its students with exceptional learning experiences in a global context. It is committed to supporting every student’s development and success, recruiting and promoting faculty of the highest credentials and standards of excellence, creating a supportive campus community and engaging the larger community and world.

The University of Tampa's library opened Oct. 19, 1969, and was originally named in honor of the late St. Louis industrialist, Merl Kelce, whose donation made the construction possible. It was re-named the Macdonald-Kelce Library in 1999 because of the generosity of the Macdonald Family Foundation whose contribution will transform the facility into a state-of-the-art information resource center. The Macdonald-Kelce Library is part of the Tampa Bay Library Consortium.

From the gleaming minarets of Plant Hall – Tampa’s signature National Historic Landmark – to the $575 million in new facilities and technology, The University of Tampa’s globally connected campus is the beating heart of a vibrant urban oasis. A distinguished faculty and approximately 8,913 students from all 50 states and 140 countries are joined in a university ranked among the best of the best by U.S. News & World Report, Forbes and The Princeton Review.

A medium-sized private university, UT offers more than 200 academic programs taught by a faculty as passionate about students’ success as they are about their areas of expertise. Championship sports, student activities, community service, honors, leadership and study abroad programs complete an extraordinary academic experience that prepares students for anywhere a world-class education can take you.

On Aug. 2, 1933, Tampa Junior College was transformed into The University of Tampa when its headquarters moved from the local high school to what is now known as Plant Hall. Leading the new institution was Frederic H. Spaulding, the former principal of Hillsborough High School and the man who had been the motivating force behind establishing the first local university for Tampa’s high school graduates.

Plant Hall, the main academic and administrative building for the University, already had an extraordinary history. Formerly the Tampa Bay Hotel, the building represented, and still remains, a symbol of the city and its history. Local historians credit its builder, railroad and shipping magnate Henry B. Plant, with the transformation of Tampa from a sleepy fishing village to what would become a vibrant city of the 21st century.

Built between 1888 and 1891, the hotel was designed to surpass all other grand winter resorts. At a cost of $3 million, the 511-room giant rose to a flamboyant height of five stories, surrounded by ornate Victorian gingerbread and topped by Moorish minarets, domes and cupolas.

The rooms that once hosted Teddy Roosevelt, the Queen of England, Booker T. Washington, Stephen Crane and Babe Ruth (who signed his first baseball contract in the hotel’s grand dining room) are now classrooms, laboratories and administrative offices–the heart of The University of Tampa and a landscape for state-of-the-art student learning environments. Today, The University of Tampa serves more than 8,913 undergraduate and graduate students, and Plant Hall remains the foundation of a 110-acre, 60-building campus that successfully blends the historic with the modern.

Known for academic excellence, personal attention and real-world experience in its undergraduate and graduate programs, University of Tampa students come from 50 states and 140 countries. There are more than 200 programs of study, including 14 master's degree programs and numerous study abroad opportunities. From its humble beginnings in Plant Hall, UT boasts a $280 million annual revenue and a $1 billion estimated annual economic impact.