The St. Petersburg campus managed to keep 334 of the original 401 students redirected from Tampa.
Courtesy of Aubrey Carr | The Crow’s Nest
By Aubrey Carr
A majority of the University of South Florida’s redirected students have chosen to stay at the St. Petersburg campus, spring 2022 data shows.
In February of last year, USF’s Dean of Admissions Glen Besterfield said that some first-time-in-college (FTIC) students who applied to Tampa after the priority deadline of Jan. 1, would be redirected to other campuses.
However, students were allowed to change their home campus after one semester and could take classes at any of the three campuses under “OneUSF.”
As a result, 401 students were assigned to the St. Petersburg campus.
According to the Office of Decision Support data obtained by The Crow’s Nest, 334 of the 401 redirected students kept St. Petersburg as their home campus for the spring 2022 semester.
Of the students who left St. Petersburg, 29 have set Tampa as their home campus and 38 are no longer students at USF.
Besterfield’s announcement came on the heels of a goal set by Rep. Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, and Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, to have 650 new students at the St. Petersburg campus for the 2020-2021 combined summer-fall semesters.
Although it created criticism from administration, the goal was not only met –– it was exceeded.
Last year’s combined summer and fall first-year enrollment numbers jumped to 756 –– an 80% increase from the 420 students seen during the 2019-2020 summer and fall semesters.
Enrollment surpassed the 650 goal by 16% and was the highest turnout of freshmen students since 2012.
Though St. Petersburg’s FTIC numbers flourished, did the students stay?
Jadyn Clymer, a freshman digital communications and multimedia journalism major was redirected but chose to stay a St. Petersburg student after her required semester at the campus.
“Despite the longer drive for me, I enjoyed where the campus was located within the city,” Clymer said.
“I thought I was looking for the college experience of a large university after taking a tour of the campus, but I found that I quite enjoyed the smallness and intimate environment the campus created. I imagined there was a strong community when the numbers were smaller and after staying for a semester, I found that was true.”
For Amanda Dearing, a freshman business major, it was the city experience and the close-knit community that kept her at the St. Petersburg campus.
“A couple aspects of the campus became more appealing to me than the Tampa campus,” Dearing said.
“I liked the smaller class sizes, the smaller campus with everything in a close proximity, and the location of it being in downtown St. Petersburg and only 20 minutes away from the beach.”
St. Petersburg Regional Chancellor Martin Tadlock was “not at all surprised” by the large retention of redirected students.
“Anyone who spends time here can tell that this is a wonderful place to live, learn and earn a degree,” Tadlock said.
“We have a terrific close-knit community where everyone looks out for one another in the middle of a thriving city. Plus, our faculty is doing groundbreaking work and making a difference in the world. This is the place to be,” he said.
