The University of Tampa has a proud history and an inspiring mission. It was founded in 1931 to provide Tampa’s youth with access to higher education and ultimately access to their goals and dreams.
Frederic Spaulding, UT’s first president, envisioned creating a “fine four-year college…holding to highest ideals academically and spiritually…free to work out a great future unencumbered, progressive, alert, and endowed with a spirit of service.”
Today, UT has fulfilled that mission and much more. It has become a model, metropolitan university that provides an outstanding educational experience for almost 9,000 students. These students come to UT from every state in the nation and from 140 of the world’s countries to achieve their goals and reach for their dreams. They pursue studies in more than 200 undergraduate and graduate fields of study.
Over the last two decades, UT has experienced extraordinary progress – enrollment is thriving; our rigorous academic curriculum ranks us as one of the strongest among the nation’s educational institutions, and we offer thousands of ways for our students to take an active role in campus life and the community.
Plus, our beautiful campus has experienced unprecedented expansion in its academic, residential, administrative and athletic facilities, and provides an impressive gateway into Tampa’s downtown. UT’s 110-acre campus still centers on the grandeur of the Tampa Bay Hotel, now Plant Hall. Yet since 1998 more than $570 million in construction has been completed and much more is planned.
This momentum reminds us of UT’s paramount responsibility to prepare students to succeed in a complex and technologically advanced global society. UT is focused on becoming a preeminent, medium-sized, comprehensive, independent university with a vibrant residentially based campus. We aim to significantly increase the amount of learning, living and recreational space on campus. We intend to enlarge our endowment to attract and support outstanding students and faculty. We strive to take calculated risks, be resourceful and think creatively so that we can offer an exceptional educational experience to all students.
Tampa Bay is fortunate to have a prestigious independent university located in its urban core. And UT benefits from being in the heart of a city that offers students a beautiful setting and a chance to learn both inside and outside the classroom.
