Office of Graduate Admissions

University of South Florida St. Petersburg
Office of Graduate Studies, BAY 204
140 Seventh Avenue South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701

Website: http://www.stpt.usf.edu/spgrad
Phone: (727) 873-4567
Fax: (727) 873-4889
Email: applygrad@stpt.usf.edu

Assistant Director: Donna Knudsen
Admissions Officer: Eric Douthirt

Admissions Criteria and Policies

Also see USF Regulation USF3-018: Admission to the University of South Florida: http://usfweb2.usf.edu/usfgc/ogc%20web/currentreg.htm.

Statement of Principles

In graduate admission decisions, multiple sources of information should be used to ensure fairness, promote diversity and balance the limitations of any single measure of knowledge, skills or abilities. The sources may include: undergraduate grade point average, letters of recommendation, personal statements, samples of academic work, portfolio, auditions, professional experience related to proposed graduate study, as well as nationally known, standardized test scores. It is the responsibility of each graduate program to select admissions criteria that best predict success in their specific field and to determine the weight given to each measure.

None of the sources of information, particularly standardized test scores, should be used in isolation nor should such scores be used in combination or separately to establish minimum or "cut off" scores. Program specific guidelines for the use of standardized test scores should be developed based on the experience of a given department with its pool of applicants. 1

Admission Requirements

Each applicant to a graduate program at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg is required to meet the following minimum requirements:

1. An applicant must have one of the following:

a. A bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution and satisfying at least one of the following criteria:

i. "B" average or better in all work attempted while registered as an undergraduate student working for a degree, or

ii. "B" or better average in all work attempted while registered as an upper division undergraduate student working for a bacalaureate degree.

b. A bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution and a previous graduate degree from a regionally accredited institution.

c. The equivalent bachelors and/or graduate degrees from a foreign institution.

2. Submission of a GRE/GMAT score is required unless specifically waived by the University.

3. All specific and additional requirements of the graduate program to which admission is sought (including requirements to submit standardized test scores) consistent with the above Statement of Principles.

The College Dean must approve any exceptions to these requirements with information copies to the Office of Graduate Studies.

1 - Adapted from the GRE "Guide to the Use of Scores" 2003-2004

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