Located in Tampa Bay region and founded in 1956, The University of South Florida is an eminent state research institute with its campuses at St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Tampa, the university has a total of 50,000 students and offers graduate, undergraduate, specialist and doctoral programs. The University is organized into a total of 14 colleges which allows the undergraduate level students to choose from more than 180 majors and combinations, ranging from Business and Engineering to USF Health and the Arts. The University believes in empowering students and is known for its initiatives in bridging the gap between black and white success. The graduate programs offered by the university continue to be ranked among the best with about 8 programs making it to the top 50 in 2018 according to U.S. News and World Report. The University aims at making their programs affordable by providing fellowships, assistantships and grants so that graduate students are able to fund their degrees. The University tries to provide high impact global research and transformative education. Founded in 1956 the university takes pride in being a Golden age University that is a pioneer and leader for younger universities. The University believes in paving new ways and be an exemplar to the students at the university, the on-campus Technology Incubator is one such example that has helped create over 230 jobs for local residents. The university's 2016-17 research expenditure was a total of $568 million and is at the forefront of research in medicine, engineering, science and the arts.