The University of Tampa

Date: Jul 31 2008
Major: Political Science (This Major's Salary over time)
UT is a money-hoarding waste of space. Pretty much everything they do is about making money. They also go to great lengths to attract rich people, and they don't really like to give financial aid to people unless they have to (I didn't have enough aid for a semester and it took a lot to get them to give me another loan). They are stingy when it comes to things like their meal plan, which is not cheap. They are always changing the rules so they can get more money out of the students. Some professors make textbooks and ask the bookstore to sell them for about $15 apiece, but they get sold at around $100 instead, and they won't take a lot of books back.

I don't think the school concentrates enough on putting together good programs and finding good faculty. They care more about landscaping than providing a decent education.

The school is completely overrun by idiotic rich kids who couldn't get into real schools (I visited during the summer and didn't get to witness them in action). They care more about partying than being able to get up for class the next day. I am not a person who studies very much, but at least I passed my classes honestly. I don't think a lot of people at UT could say the same, to be honest.

The school occupies a beautiful historic building that they are letting fall apart. Sure, it looks great for face value, they paint it all the time and it has new carpet, etc., but take a look at the foundation next time you're in the area, and maybe take a trip to the fifth floor… It's a mess, the walls and floors are falling apart up there.

A friend of mine came back to campus early this summer to take some summer classes, and she had no food available to her and there was no one to call to fix her broken light in her bathroom or to fix her broken shower. Academic services aren't available this time of year either.

The University says that you will not be taught by teaching assistants, which is a good thing. But what they don't tell you is that most of your professors will not be actual UT faculty, they are adjuncts that work at other schools or who have other jobs that they may or may not be more interested in (I had a professor who canceled class a few times because he had work to do at his modeling agency). I also had a professor who was rumored to have been stripped of his medical license (he went from doing research at Johns Hopkins and USF to teaching an extremely badly-structured freshman-required class, and nothing else).

What I did like well enough was the city. There's enough to do if you can get a little creative in your activity planning. The beach is less than half an hour away, Ybor is awesome day or night, Channelside is alright, etc. I stayed in the city for about six months after I left the University, but came home because there is no job market there and employers treat their employees like trash, and you can get fired from anywhere for just about anything (there are no labor unions in Florida and minimum wage is less than $7.00).

All in all, just don't bother with UT if you are an intelligent person who wants an at least decent education, because you won't find it at UT. And if you make the mistake to go there and decide to transfer out, good luck getting other schools to accept your credits, because in my experience a lot of schools won't take their credits. I have to pretty much start from scratch (albeit in a much better school, so it is worth it).

If you are a snobby party-loving richie or are obsessed with tanning on the lawns (which is the daily landscape in any lawn on campus), go right ahead, have a good time. Know that there are better schools that still offer fun, however. Some of the most well-known party schools are pretty good schools.