When plans for the University of Florida to open a West Palm Beach satellite campus bogged down in 2022, then-Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry saw opportunity.
He reached out to Mori Hosseini, the politically powerful businessman who heads the UF Board of Trustees, to pitch his downtown as an alternate site. Not long after, he drove to Gainesville with a letter of commitment showing what the city was willing to do to secure the campus.
It included $50 million from the city and another $50 million in donations from Jacksonville-area businesses. “We understand the University of Florida brand and how big and important it will be for the city of Jacksonville,” Curry says.
It worked. The university anticipates opening classes in the fall of 2025 with 150 full-time students. That could grow to as many as 1,500 to 2,000 within five years. At a minimum, it means that hundreds of new people will be spending their days in Jacksonville’s otherwise less than vibrant downtown. And that’s what Curry dreamed of.
“Obviously you want people seeking these degrees in your downtown,” Curry says. “It creates population density. It creates a need for more retail, for more arts and culture. It’s like planting not just a seed, it’s some massive growth from there.”
UF signed a three-year lease with three annual renewal options, to use a floor in Jacksonville utility JEA’s new downtown headquarters as an initial base while the campus is being constructed. On-site student housing may be included.
The $300-million campus already is 83% funded, with $150 million from the state, Jacksonville’s $50 million and the $50 million in private donations. Hosseini expects the private sector to fill in the gap. UF officials say they’ll choose this fall which of three available downtown sites will be home to the campus.
Its degree programs “will feature new curricula that integrate the latest advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics to serve the state’s rapidly growing needs in business, engineering, health sciences, law, and related fields,” UF’s proposal to the Florida Board of Governors said.
That’s music to the ears of Jacksonville’s business community.
Economic development used to be driven by “communities writing big checks” to lure business, says Daniel Davis, president and CEO of the JAX Chamber. Now, “it’s creating that talent, and the jobs are going to chase that talent.”
But what about the University of North Florida, the 17,000-student state university that’s already located in Jacksonville? UNF President Moez Limayem endorsed the idea of another state university moving into Jacksonville, writing that the plans “are additive and not duplicative of UNF programs” and “UNF stands ready to form a strategic partnership with UF to identify and aggressively meet the burgeoning needs of business and industry.”
UF Jacksonville Offerings
Eight master’s programs and a physician assistant program will be offered when the campus opens for the fall 2025 semester. Degrees will include:
- Master of Science in Management (MSM) with Concentration in AI
- Master of Business Administration (MBA) with Concentration in AI and Analytics
- Master of Engineering Management with a Concentration in Data Analytics
- Master of Science in Computer Science with a Concentration in AI and Cybersecurity
- Master of Science in AI in Biomedical and Health Sciences
- Master of Science in Genetic Counseling
- Master in the Study of Law
- Master in Architecture