The University of Florida (UF) and the city of Jacksonville have partnered to explore the creation of a new graduate campus in the city.

The campus would focus on programs in medicine, engineering, and business, building on the existing partnership between UF and Jacksonville in healthcare.

“We are excited about the possibility of hosting this University of Florida expansion to foster opportunity, a talent pipeline, and further grow our region’s industry,” said Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, who is proposing a three-year, $50 million offer to the City Council to facilitate the move. UF and community leaders will also seek an additional $50 million in private support for the project.

A secondary goal of the partnership is to provide new graduate education programs that support the city’s workforce needs in biomedical technology and pioneer new technologies related to health and patient care.

Per the announcement, city and university officials will coordinate with industry leaders in Jacksonville to determine which educational subject areas would satisfy critical needs of the local workforce.

“We’re excited to grow our historic partnership with Jacksonville through exploring what we envision as a new campus designed for the strengths of this unique city,” said UF Chair of the Board of Trustees, Mori Hosseini.

UF Health in Jacksonville, the university’s current satellite facility in the city, offers specialized and subspecialty graduate medical education programs. The new graduate campus would be designed to complement these programs and provide additional resources for students and professionals seeking advanced degrees in medicine, engineering, and business.

The proposed campus would also provide opportunities for collaboration between local industries, UF, and the city of Jacksonville to develop new technologies and programs that meet the needs of the region.