Ben Sasse, president of the University of Florida, has announced a new graduate campus in Jacksonville that will specialize in medicine, business and engineering. The city of Jacksonville's growing tech economy and expansive area were key factors in the partnership with the University of Florida, and the new campus was established to allow talent to stay and work in Florida.
The University of Florida says it is expanding its Jacksonville campus, with plans to enroll more than 1,500 students over five years, and the University of Florida plans to offer nine graduate degrees at the Jacksonville Center, including three that are offered specifically at the campus: a Master of Management in Artificial Intelligence Major, a Master of Engineering Management in Data Analytics and a Master of Computer Science. It will cover Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Security Computer Science, Precision Mechanics and Smart Manufacturing, Data Analytics and Security, Legal Research, and "Applications/Translations of Emerging Innovations in Various Fields". These workforce-oriented degrees will feature new courses that integrate the latest advances in artificial intelligence and data analytics to meet the state's rapidly growing needs in business, engineering, health sciences, law, and related fields.
Ben Sasse, president of the University of Florida, said in March that the university believes that a new paradigm will allow students to go back and forth between practice and classroom learning. He noted that students at the Jacksonville campus will have a combination of classroom and experiential learning. The classes are expected to begin in the fall of 2025, and students will tentatively take classes at the Jacksonville Electric Authority's headquarters building in the heart of the city.
The idea for a graduate center at the University of Florida emerged a year ago and received $75 million from the state legislature, $50 million from the City of Jacksonville and about $60 million from private donors. The city's pledge was fulfilled over three years and will be completed in next year's budget.
The cost of building the planned University of Florida Graduate Center has risen. In this year's legislative session, the University of Florida did not ask any legislators to introduce legislation for a second round of funding for the Graduate Center, which increased to $75 million in the final budget approved by Congress.