The Upper Division program is our traditional baccalaureate nursing pathway for students who have completed nursing prerequisite courses and university general education requirements. This is a full-time limited-access program, as mandated by the state, and is structured sequentially. Admission is competitive. Admissions are determined on the basis of availability of sufficient qualified faculty, laboratory and classroom facilities, and clinical teaching resources.

• Admission to the USF Tampa as a degree-seeking undergraduate student
• Completed application to the College of Nursing prior to the published deadline for the intended term of entry; students who are transferring to USF should be aware of the separate GPA requirements for admission to USF

Consult the Undergraduate Catalog for more information.

Important Notification:

All admitted nursing students are required to complete a background check, immunization verification, and drug screening. Additionally, students will be required to provide proof of current health insurance. Admitted students will be provided with the steps to complete this process.

Please refer to the catalog for your academic year. Visit the online Undergraduate Catalog, select the appropriate catalog year, choose the College of Nursing, and select Admissions Requirements for more information.

To view our competitive GPA and program statistics, please click here.

Applicants who meet the admission requirements should complete the steps below to apply:

1. Submit a USF Tampa Undergraduate Application through the USF Office of Admissions

• Select “Bachelor’s Degree”
• Select Nursing as your major
• Select the Tampa campus and apply now
  • Applicants will select their nursing campus in the NursingCAS application
• In the Academic Interest tab, select the following:
  • Undergraduate
  • Student Type: Freshman
  • Your intended term of entry
  • Tampa campus
  • Nursing program
• Submit all required documentation to the USF Office of Admissions
  • Submit official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended
  • Submit official AP, IB, CLEP, etc. test scores from CollegeBoard
  • Some applicants may be required to submit additional documents as needed by the USF Office of Admissions 

Note: The College of Nursing will evaluate prerequisite coursework after the USF Office of Admissions has determined course transferability to the university and posted the official results in DegreeWorks, which requires all official transcripts to be processed by the USF Office of Admissions. For questions regarding the status of your university application and transcript processing please call (813) 974-3350 or email at admissions@usf.edu. 

2. Submit a NursingCAS Application

• Begin working on your NursingCAS application after receiving a USF ID number (Example: U12345678)  from the USF Office of Admissions
• Select your intended term of entry
• Create a NursingCAS account and submit the application with fee.
• Submit all official transcripts to NursingCAS
  • Submit official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended
  • Submit official AP, IB, CLEP, etc. test scores from CollegeBoard
• For technical questions regarding your NursingCAS account, please contact NursingCAS at 617-612-2880 or nursingcasinfo@nursingcas.org.

Note: To be considered for admission to the desired nursing pathway, applicants must meet all minimum admission criteria, be officially admitted to USF for the correct term of entry, and have a Verified NursingCAS application, by the nursing application deadline. Any deviation from the posted criteria will cause the applicant to be ineligible for admission.

File Completion: All transcripts, scores, and required documents received by the Office of Admissions

PLEASE NOTE: Please read the Application Process section carefully. Applicants will be deemed ineligible for admission to the nursing program if any portion of the process is not satisfied by the posted deadlines. Please contact USF Undergraduate Admissions regarding your university application. USF Undergraduate Admissions cannot expedite processing for any student for any reason. Applicants seeking admission to the St. Petersburg or Sarasota-Manatee campus MUST select “USF Tampa” as the Campus on the university application. The specific campus can be selected in the NursingCAS application.

Nursing Mandatory Orientation Dates

All undergraduate students must attend the mandatory College of Nursing Orientation & Pre-Immersion Orientation. Please keep these dates in mind and plan activities accordingly. Students who cannot attend the orientations will forfeit their seat in the program.