UF grad center in Jacksonville wins another $75 million from state Legislature

The state will add another $75 million for a planned University of Florida graduate center in Jacksonville, bringing the total amount from state, city and private donors to more than $250 million for future academic courses and research in health care and financial technology.

The additional state money comes as UF says it is enlarging its vision for Jacksonville by planning for more than 1,500 students at the campus in five years. UF intends to start by offering 10 graduate degrees at the Jacksonville center and then add to those.

The overall academic themes will cover artificial intelligence and machine learning, precision machine and smart manufacturing, data analytics and security, and the "application/translation of emerging innovations across fields," according to a presentation at a UF Board of Trustees meeting last week.

The latest round of money for the UF graduate center was not part of Gov. Ron DeSantis's original budget but negotiations between the House and the Senate on the 2024-25 budget locked in the money.

House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, has been a powerful advocate for the graduate center over the past two years. He said Tuesday both UF and Jacksonville will benefit from the links between the graduate center and Jacksonville area businesses.

"I'm proud of this partnership to push this transformative opportunity for our students and our region forward," Renner said.

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Renner said that even before he became speaker, he saw a need for a "regional pipeline for talent and development in Northeast Florida."

"By bringing the University of Florida graduate center to Jacksonville, we will attract talented students to the region who will graduate ready to enter and enhance our community's workforce," Renner said in a statement. "As the No. 1 public university in the nation, UF's presence in Jacksonville will have a generational benefit."

He said the partnership with businesses will give students valuable work experience while plugging them into a "network of industry professionals."

UF has not decided where it will build the campus, other than that it will be in the downtown area. UF leaders have said they expect land for the graduate center will be donated.

A timeline given to the Board of Trustees showed UF would open administrative offices in the fall at the JEA headquarters building on Pearl Street in downtown and also select the permanent campus site in that time frame.

The design and planning of a permanent campus would take place in mid-2025 and UF would begin classes on the fifth floor of the Pearl Street building in fall 2025.

Three potential permanent sites for the campus are the area of the Prime Osborn Convention Center, an area around Florida State College at Jacksonville and Laura Street, and the current site of the Jacksonville Fairgrounds. The fair association plans to move in 2025 to a new location on the Westside. Jaguars owner Shad Khan has an agreement to purchase that site from the fairgrounds association and has offered it for the UF campus.

The idea of building a UF grad center emerged a year ago and gained $75 million in support from the state Legislature, a $50 million commitment from the city of Jacksonville and about $60 million from private donors. The city's commitment is spread 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. Heading into this year's legislative session, UF had not asked any lawmakers to file legislation for adding a second round of funding for the graduate center, whose impact supporters have compared to Mayo Clinic and the NFL coming to Jacksonville.

When the House and Senate each passed versions of the budget, the Senate did not include money for the UF graduate center but the House inserted $37.5 million for a UF "financial technology graduate education center in Jacksonville."

That line item grew to $75 million in the final budget approved last Friday by the Legislature.

The presentation to the UF board showed graduate degrees in business for a professional MBA with artificial intelligence "analytics concentration" for working professionals and a master of science in management with an AI concentration for putting that technology in place in business processes.

Another degree would be a masters in architecture using an existing UF program in downtown Jacksonville for working professionals and those who have a four-year pre-professional degree in architecture.

Two degrees would be in the field engineering: a masters in engineering management and data analytics and a masters in computer science.

The center would have a masters in study of law for non-lawyers who are "engaged in financial and tax compliance." UF plans to add more concentrations for that degree.

In the area of health sciences, there would be a masters in health administration for executives, a physician assistant program, a masters in AI biomedical and health sciences, and a genetic counseling training program.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Florida Legislature back more money for UF grad center in Jacksonville