This fall, USF welcomed around 6,700 new Bulls across its three campuses, marking a 14% uptick in arrivals from the year before.

After seeing the increase, professors and students are sharing the benefits and drawbacks they see with the increased enrollment.

Doctoral student and instructor Rio Tate said the increase in incoming students shows people recognize USF’s potential as a top-50 public university.

USF was ranked at No. 45 among public universities but came in at No. 91 for its status among both public and private universities in this year’s U.S. & World News Report.

Related: USF drops in U.S. News & World Report college rankings 

Though USF’s overall ranking dropped compared to last year, when it came in at No. 89, Tate still attributes the increase in students to the university’s status.

“Many high-profile high school students and transfer students are recognizing the value that the university brings,” he said.

Martin Smith, assistant vice president for the Office of Admissions Recruitment Team, said USF’s recruiting efforts are one factor behind the increase in students.

Smith said improving campus visits was “pivotal,” as they represent USF’s “highest-yield recruiting tool.”

“This new approach has enhanced the overall experience for prospective students in both groups,” Smith said. 

Some of the changes in this year’s recruitment plan included online meetings with out-of-state students, extra residence hall spaces dedicated to new students, more merit-based scholarship funds, increased marketing and different campus visit options, according to the university. 

Shaaron Devanand, a sophomore biomedical sciences major, said the increase in population resulted in a greater number of members in student organizations and contributed to campus diversity.

“This year, the diversity is very visible, and the impact of that can be seen in Asian student organizations, several of which I am a member of,” Devanand said. “I can see that there is so much participation this year because of that.”

Between fall 2023 and this fall, USF saw a just over 4% increase in its Asian undergraduate student population, jumping to 3,271, according to data from USF’s InfoCenter. 

Graduate student instructor Roger Young said it’s nice to see so many people coming to USF to get an education. 

“If education here at USF is more accessible to a greater number of people, then we are going to benefit from a higher degree of diversity on campus,” Young said. 

The Hispanic undergraduate student population also increased from 8,390 to 8,960, around a 6.8% change. The number of Black undergraduate students at USF saw an almost 4% uptick, going from 2,861 last fall to 2,975 this fall.

But the difference was noticeable outside the classroom as well — when parking or registering for housing.

Young said he found parking particularly difficult this year. However, he mentioned how the arrival of more students translates to more education for the community. 

“I’d rather have more students with a parking problem than fewer students and no parking problem,” Young said.

Related: USF parking has cashed in over $25M in permit sales since 2021 

Anvitha Padala, a sophomore computer science major, had similar thoughts about on-campus housing availability, as it was difficult to get spots this year.

“Not a lot of people got housing this year because everyone applied for housing and there were more people applying than housing available compared to last year,” Padala said.

Around 7,200 students applied for the 6,400 beds available at the Tampa campus for the fall semester.

When weighing pros and cons, the increase in student population is a reflection of welcoming everyone, Devanand said.

“I will say that on a positive side there have been changes to being more inclusive of everyone and I think they [the university] is making an effort to listen to student opinions,” Devanand said.