State College of Florida ready to expand into Parrish with $40 million campus
Nearly a decade after State College of Florida began moving toward an expansion into Parrish, the college is ready to turn that vision into reality.
With Gov. Ron DeSantis’ approval of the latest state appropriation of $9 million being the last piece of the $40 million puzzle, SCF will start construction later this year. College leaders hope the school’s fourth campus will be open in time for classes in fall 2027.
SCF President Tommy Gregory told the Bradenton Herald a groundbreaking ceremony is tentatively planned for Oct. 30 for Phase 1 of the SCF Parrish campus.
“We couldn’t be more excited,” Gregory said. “It’s a perfect place and really, really needed in the area.”
Phase 1 will start the campus with a 40,000 square-foot main multi-purpose building for workforce academic programs, collaborative space and administrative offices. This phase will stand near the intersection of Erie Road and Fort Hamer Road.
When complete, the entire campus will stretch over 500,000 square feet and serve the growing population in East Manatee County. It will add a fourth campus to SCF’s existing Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch and Venice campuses.
SCF nears Parrish expansion
Gregory credited the three-year flow of state appropriations to the Parrish campus plan as a key factor in funding. This year, SCF received $9 million for the Parrish campus, which adds to the $18 million received in 2024 and another $9 million in 2023.
“It simply would not be possible without Senator (Jim) Boyd, Representative (Will) Robinson and Governor DeSantis and the entire Florida Legislature working together to support projects like this one,” added Gregory, a former state lawmaker who stepped away from public office to become SCF’s president in July 2024.
The first phase of the campus will focus on SCF’s core offerings, he explained.
“It’s essentially going to be the general education courses leading to (Associate in Arts) degrees and other workforce certificate degrees, including programs like nursing, which are so needed across the region,” Gregory said.
This step is just one of about six phases that SCF has planned to bring the vision of a Parrish campus to life. Gregory said the subsequent phases — drawn out over two decades — will adapt the Parrish campus to the area’s needs.
“The build of future phases will probably take 15-20 years, but we will continue to grow with that community and meet the needs of the workforce in the area,” Gregory said.
Key piece of Parrish ‘academic cluster’
It’s a long-term vision to bring college programs and other course offerings to all ages in East Manatee County.
Together with the Parrish Community High School across the street from it, SCF Parrish will become part of the “academic cluster” approved by Manatee County Government in the Parrish Village Neighborhood Action Plan.
The college’s goal is to serve the greater community by offering not just college degrees, but also early college courses, dual enrollment programs and lifelong learning opportunities
“We welcome students of all ages, and I think that, you know, it’s really a tremendous opportunity,” Gregory said.
Phase 2 will add a collegiate school to the Parrish campus, similar to SCF’s Bradenton campus. This provides high school students the opportunity to take college classes for their last two years of high school and receive an Associate in Arts degree when they graduate.
The first step in Phase 2 is a fundraising plan, which Gregory said is already underway. Gregory and SCF are eager to jump into the next phase now that Phase 1 is fully funded.
“We would start construction right now if we had the money,” Gregory said of Phase 2. “The need is already there.”
Path of progress for SCF Parrish
In 2017, SCF purchased the property at 11680 Erie Road in Parrish for $2.5 million. Then, the Manatee County Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved SCF’s plan for the Parrish campus in 2020.
But due to economic pressures from the COVID-19 pandemic, DeSantis vetoed a $5 million appropriation in 2020, which would have served as a starting point for the campus’s construction.
Gregory said the pandemic slowed progress on the campus down by a couple of years, until about 2022, before the latest three years of appropriations added $36 million of the $40 million needed for Phase 1.
Boyd, who helped sponsor the appropriations, agreed that the SCF Parrish campus will help address the region’s needs.
“The planned State College of Florida campus in Parrish will not only increase access to higher education in the region, but it will also help meet the workforce needs in the community,” Boyd said in a statement. “The state’s investment in this initiative will pay dividends for decades to come in the form of students, graduates, jobs, economic impact and community collaboration.”
The SCF Foundation, a separate organization from the college, committed to raising the remaining $4 million through private donations for Phase 1.
