- April 19, 2024
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Jacksonville University is planning to expand to Palm Coast's Town Center, offering classes leading to a bachelor's degree in nursing and to master's degrees in nursing, speech language pathology and clinical mental health counseling.
The Palm Coast City Council voted 4-1 at its March 2 council meeting, with Councilman Ed Danko dissenting, to approve the terms of a forgivable loan agreement and a grant agreement to support the university's expansion, known as the Jacksonville University Palm Coast Campus Initiative. The council had approved the overall funding amount — $2.5 million — in December 2020.
Of the $2.5 million total, $1 million is a forgivable performance loan coming from the city's State Road 100 Community Redevelopment Agency, and the other $1.5 million is a grant from the city's General Fund reserves.
"I just want to go on record as being opposed to this whole deal with Jacksonville University," Danko said at the March 2 meeting. "This is a university that makes money hand over fist. ... There’s no reason we should have to pay them to come to our city."
No other council members commented on the topic before the 4-1 vote.
The loan, according to the terms the council approved at the March 2 meeting, will be delivered in two $500,000 transfers — the first occurring after the first week of academic instruction at the new Palm Coast location, and the second occurring after the 16th week of academic instruction — and will be forgiven at a rate of $27,778 per month for 36 months starting on Aug. 1, 2021, continuing as long as academic programming is provided.
The grant will also be distributed in two transfers, the first totaling $1 million and occurring after verification that Jacksonville University has obtained a lease for office space in Town Center for a term of at least three years, and the second, $500,000 disbursement occurring after the university submits verification that it has started marketing, recruitment and a faculty search for programs planned for the Palm Coast location.
Students will start arriving starting for the Fall 2021 semester, and the university expects 100-150 fulltime students within 24 months in programs, according to a JU document on the expansion.
JU— a private liberal arts college founded in 1934 and currently serving 4,164 students, according to its webpage — plans to hire 15 full-time and 10 part-time employees for the Palm Coast Campus Initiative. The JU initiative is separate from the University of North Florida's planned MedNexus project in Town Center, but will help fill gaps in the programming offered by UNF, Daytona State College, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and Bethune Cookman, according to the JU document.
"The Palm Coast Initiative will make significant contributions to the economic growth of the city of Palm Coast and the area by initially hiring 15 full time and 10 part time employees, educating students which will in turn add to the local healthcare workforce," a city staff document states.
