University of South Florida - Sarasota-Manatee [USFSM]: Rankings, Courses, Admissions, Tuition Fee, Cost of Attendance & Scholarships

Popular Courses and Fees at USF Sarasota-Manatee 2027

USF Sarasota-Manatee historically operated 27 undergraduate majors and 15 graduate programmes across business, hospitality, education and social sciences. Every course now continues at USF Tampa under the same USF diploma. Fees below reflect USF-wide 2026-2027 out-of-state international rates.

Top PG Programmes for Indian Applicants

Master’s programmes run 30 to 42 credit hours over two academic years. USF charges per credit hour at graduate out-of-state international rates, and MBA courses carry a higher premium.

[Source: USF Business Finance Controller 2026-2027 tuition schedule]

Top UG Programmes for Indian Applicants

Undergraduate degrees run 120 credits across four academic years. Tuition sits at approximately USD 17,324 per year for out-of-state international students under the USF fee schedule.

Insider note: Indian applicants historically chose Hospitality Management and Cybersecurity at USF Sarasota-Manatee because both track into OPT-eligible F-1 categories. Both continue with the same faculty at USF Tampa post-teach-out.

Read More: USF Sarasota-Manatee Fees and Cost of Living Guide

USF Sarasota-Manatee Admission 2027

USF Sarasota-Manatee admissions for Indian applicants now run through the USF Office of Admissions in Tampa. Fall (August) is the primary intake and offers the widest programme choice; Spring (January) reopens a narrower band of graduate seats.

[Source: USF Office of Admissions International Deadlines page]

Planning note: Because USF Sarasota-Manatee does not accept new admissions, Indian applicants should mark their target campus as USF Tampa on the Common App. Selecting Sarasota-Manatee triggers automatic redirection to the Tampa Fall intake and can delay I-20 issuance by four to six weeks.

Read More: USF Sarasota-Manatee Admissions Guide for Indian Students

USF Sarasota-Manatee Admission Requirements for Indian Applicants 2027

USF applies uniform admission thresholds across all campuses, so Sarasota-Manatee teach-out entry through USF Tampa follows the same academic and English standards.

• PG academic: Bachelor’s degree with B average, translating to 55% or CGPA 5.5 on a 10-point scale (recommended); MBA and Data Science programmes prefer 60% or CGPA 6.0/10.
• English proficiency (verbatim from USF international admissions): TOEFL iBT 4.5 (1-6 new scale) / 79 (0-120 legacy scale); IELTS Academic 6.5; PTE Academic 53; Duolingo English Test 110; TOEFL Essentials 8.5.
• Credential evaluation: Course-by-course report from WES or another NACES member is required for every Indian applicant with a three-year Bachelor’s.
• Standardised tests: GRE and GMAT are optional for most master’s programmes but recommended for MBA Professional Accounting; SAT and ACT are optional for international freshmen.

UG academic: Class 12 (CBSE, ISC or State Board) with 65% to 85% aggregate depending on programme, English proficiency test as above, and financial declaration showing USD 39,500 for one year.

Key insight: Indian applicants with English-medium Class 12 from CBSE or ISC can request an IELTS or TOEFL waiver. The school’s official English-medium certificate attaches to the USF supplemental form. USF approves the waiver case-by-case within three weeks of a complete application.

USF Sarasota-Manatee Acceptance Rate 2027

USF Sarasota-Manatee historically ran an acceptance rate of 24% (estimated) based on third-party admission data before consolidation. Because Indian applicants now route to USF Tampa, the effective admit rate is the USF system rate of 43% (estimated) for Fall 2026 international entry.

USF has become moderately less selective at the international level as the system expands overseas recruitment. Indian applicants with strong Class 12 or CGPA scores plus a valid English test rarely see outright rejection at USF Tampa.

Reality check: An acceptance rate near 43% signals a match-and-safety fit for Indian applicants with CGPA 6.5 and an English test above USF minimums. Applicants targeting STEM MS programmes should still layer in one reach and one safety on the same Fall 2027 timeline.

Read More: USF Sarasota-Manatee Acceptance Rate

USF Sarasota-Manatee Fees and Cost of Living for Indian Students 2027

Total annual investment for an Indian student on the USF Sarasota-Manatee teach-out or the equivalent Tampa Fall 2027 intake sits between USD 32,500 and 39,500 (INR 30.7 to 37.3 lakh), covering tuition and living costs.

USF Sarasota-Manatee Tuition Fees for Indian Students 2027

USF publishes a single out-of-state fee schedule for undergraduate and graduate international students, applied across every campus.

[Source: USF Business Finance Controller 2026-2027 tuition schedule]

Monthly Cost of Living in Sarasota for Indian Students

Sarasota sits on Florida’s Gulf Coast and runs cheaper than Miami or Orlando, though still 15% above the US inland average. SCAT is the local Sarasota County Area Transit bus system.

[Source: USF Cost of Attendance 2026-2027 estimate for Sarasota region]

Insider note: Off-campus apartments within a two-mile radius of USF Sarasota-Manatee rent for USD 800 to 1,050 per month for a shared bedroom. Rents drop by 20% if Indian students commute from the Bradenton side of the bay.

Read More: Cost of Living in USA for Indian Students

USF Sarasota-Manatee Campus, Facilities and Student Life

The 32-acre USF Sarasota-Manatee campus sits along Sarasota Bay on the northern edge of the city, roughly 60 miles south of Tampa International Airport.

• Location and transport: Sarasota Bradenton International Airport is 10 minutes away; SCAT public buses link the campus with downtown Sarasota, Bradenton and the Tampa Amtrak connection.
• Housing: No on-campus student housing; Indian students rent shared apartments in Bradenton or Palmetto for USD 800 to 1,050 (INR 75,600 to 99,225) per month, with no international-guaranteed slots.
• Notable facility: The Selby Auditorium, Kate Tiedemann College of Business classrooms and the Mildred Sainer Pavilion continue to host USF teach-out students under a shared-use agreement with New College.
• Indian student community: The active Indian Students Association migrated to USF Tampa in 2024; roughly 1,200 Indian students study at USF system-wide.

What Indian students say: Alumni consistently cite the quiet waterfront setting and small class sizes (average 26) as the biggest advantages over USF Tampa. The most common complaint is limited public transport after 8 pm, which forces Indian students to carpool or Uber to grocery runs.

USF Sarasota-Manatee Scholarships 2027

USF offers three merit-based tuition waivers to international undergraduates through its Green and Gold programme. Every accepted applicant is automatically considered, and no separate essay is required.

[Source: USF Office of Admissions International Scholarships page]

These waivers apply only to out-of-state tuition and cannot be combined with other tuition-waiver scholarships. Graduate applicants at USF Sarasota-Manatee historically accessed college-level assistantships that continue at USF Tampa; specific graduate scholarship amounts vary by department and require direct outreach to programme faculty.

Planning note: Indian applicants who miss the 15 January 2027 Green and Gold deadline lose merit-waiver consideration entirely. Rolling Admission applicants after March 2027 pay the full USD 17,324 out-of-state rate.

Read More: USF Sarasota-Manatee Scholarships Guide

USF Sarasota-Manatee Rankings 2027

USF Sarasota-Manatee is not ranked as an independent institution; its rankings inherit from the University of South Florida system, which climbed 26 places on the QS World University Rankings between 2020 and 2026 before slipping back in the 2027 edition.

[Source: QS Quacquarelli Symonds, Times Higher Education, US News, ARWU]

USF’s US News subject strengths for Indian applicants include Public Health (national top 40), Nursing (top 50) and Rehabilitation Counseling (top 30). Sarasota-Manatee historically anchored USF’s Hospitality Management programme, which held a top-25 national position in Hospitality speciality tables.

Key insight: A US News National Universities rank of #88 places USF above the 100-university cut-off that Indian education loan providers such as HDFC Credila and Prodigy use as their lower-friction band. This makes USF Tampa financing significantly easier than for unranked American branch campuses.

Read More: USF Sarasota-Manatee Rankings Analysis

USF Sarasota-Manatee Placements and Career Outcomes 2027

USF reports strong employment outcomes system-wide; Sarasota-Manatee’s hospitality and business graduates historically posted a placement rate above the USF average.

• USF system 6-month employment rate: 87% (from USF Career Services 2024-2025 outcomes report)
• Median starting salary (USF Bachelor’s, all programmes): USD 51,200 (INR 48.4 lakh)
• Median MBA post-graduation salary: USD 78,500 (INR 74.2 lakh)
• Sectors hiring Sarasota-Manatee graduates: Hospitality (Ritz-Carlton, Marriott), Financial Services, Cybersecurity, Public Sector Accounting
• Post-study work visa: 12-month OPT for all F-1 graduates; 24-month STEM extension raises Cybersecurity and Data Science total to 36 months

Insider note: Hospitality Management graduates historically converted internships at Ritz-Carlton Sarasota into H-1B sponsorship at a 30% success rate. Post-teach-out, these placements now flow through USF Tampa’s Muma College of Business alumni network.

USF Sarasota-Manatee vs Peer Universities

Indian applicants weighing USF Sarasota-Manatee typically compare it against other mid-tier Florida publics and against USF’s own Tampa main campus.

[Source: QS World University Rankings 2027 and USF Business Finance Controller 2026-2027 schedule]

USF stands out on two fronts for Indian applicants. It holds a US News rank of #88 that supports low-friction education loans, and the Green and Gold merit waivers offer up to USD 44,000 in tuition relief that mid-tier Florida peers do not match.

USF Sarasota-Manatee suits Indian applicants who value a small waterfront campus for undergraduate study and are already enrolled or transferring within USF. The total investment of USD 40 to 65 lakh across a full degree pairs with a median USF Bachelor’s salary of INR 48.4 lakh and a 12-month OPT window, delivering a two-year payback horizon for hospitality and cybersecurity majors on the F-1 student visa.

The campus is not the right pick for a fresh Indian applicant targeting Fall 2027, since new admissions have closed and the teach-out timeline runs through 2029. Prospective students should route directly to USF Tampa, or consider Florida International University for a comparable Miami metro cost profile.