About USF Founded in 1956, the University of South Florida System is comprised of two separately accredited institutions, USF and USF St. Petersburg.  USF consists of the main research campus in Tampa, which includes USF Health, and two regional campuses – USF Sarasota-Manatee and USF Polytechnic in Lakeland. At the University of South Florida, federal funds for academic research and development increased 213 percent from 2000 to 2007, making USF the fastest growing research university in the United States, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. In the academic year 2008-09, USF reached a new high with $380.4 million in research grants and contracts. USF ranked 90^th largest university in receiving federal funding (2006) by National Science Foundation.