We have been able to place 100% of SLA/IT students in search of an assistantship either in the Department of World Languages, INTO USF, the Department of Secondary Education, or the Florida Center for Instructional Technology. Applicants with particularly high GRE scores may be nominated for the University Graduate Fellowship, which offers a $10,000 stipend, and for the Leslie C. Robins Dean’s Excellence Award, which offers a stipend of $5,000 per year, for a total of four years, and a tuition waiver.

SLA/IT is not only unique in its merging of two disciplines but also in the fact that the program is jointly offered thanks to the collaboration of faculty in two separate colleges—the College of Education and the College of Arts and Sciences. This arrangement presents students with the fruit of academic cross-fertilization, thus enriching and strengthening the SLA/IT program.

Approximately half our SLA/IT students come from outside the U.S., most securing university positions in their home countries following completion of the doctoral program. In the U.S., SLA/IT graduates hold academic positions at schools such as De Paul University, University of Illinois at Carbondale, University of Alaska, and University of Central Florida.

Students and faculty frequently characterize the SLA/IT program as a "family." Our cohort system contributes significantly to this sense of community by creating the means by which each new group of students can rely on one another both inside and outside of class. New cohort members are also assigned SLA/IT student mentors to help ease the transition into doctoral study. The sequence of SLA/IT Research Labs, which begins in the first semester of doctoral study, also provides a friendly "space" in which students and faculty forge a special bond through on-going research collaboration. Annual end-of-year sessions between each student and a group of faculty allow for continued mentoring, and an annual picnic or formal reception hosted by the SLA/IT faculty strengthens the community even further.

The 4-semester sequence of 6 Research Labs brings each cohort together with faculty in seminar format to move collaboratively through the process of conceiving, designing, implementing, and reporting on independent research undertaken by each student. As a result, even before commencing work on the dissertation, SLA/IT students can place scholarly publications and conference presentations on their vitae. Faculty, through the various courses they teach, may also invite student collaboration in preparing book manuscripts or grant proposals.

Florida residents pay $430.85 per graduate credit hour ($855.37 for non-residents)—a bargain considering tuition in comparable programs which can be as high as $778 per graduate credit hour for residents and $1,530 for non-residents.

Most SLA/IT students move through the program in 5 years—approximately 3 years for coursework and 2 for the dissertation—although some have completed the entire process in 3 or 4 years.

SLAQ (the Second Language Acquisition graduate student group) offers opportunities to interact with members of previous cohorts. SLAQ provides a forum for faculty presentations, rehearsals for proposal defenses, and discussions of recent conference experiences, all of which are invariably accompanied by pizza. SLA/IT doctoral students may also receive funding to attend national and regional conferences.

Tampa’s cost of living falls below the national average.

The average high temperature is a delicious 82 degrees Fahrenheit while the average low is 63 degrees Fahrenheit and an average of only 3 days per year colder than 32 degrees Fahrenheit. That includes 240 sunny days in a year and no snow—a perfect climate in which to enjoy many great outdoor venues such as white sandy beaches and world-famous theme parks.