State College of Florida breaks ground on $40M Parrish campus

Higher education will become more accessible to residents in north Manatee County in the years ahead, after officials broke ground on the State College of Florida campus in Parrish.

The 74-acre campus off Erie Road will soon be transformed into a construction site, with Lakewood Ranch-based Tandem Construction building the project Hepner Architects of Tampa designed.

“From classrooms and labs to open spaces and community rooms, this campus is going to connect education to opportunity and opportunity to prosperity for Manatee, for Parrish and beyond,” State College of Florida President Tommy Gregory said at the Oct. 30 groundbreaking.

The college has raised $40 million for the first phase of development for the campus, Gregory said, including $36 million from the state and $4 million from the State College of Florida Foundation.

Building a location in north Manatee County helps fulfill the college’s motto of “we meet you where you are,” Gregory said. State College of Florida also has locations in Bradenton, Venice and Lakewood Ranch. Its main campus is at 5840 26th St. W. in Bradenton.

“For Parrish, this is more than a campus,” Gregory said. “It's a promise that higher education will always be within reach and that you don't need to leave home. You don't need to leave Parrish to get a world-class education.”

Photo by Elizabeth King

When it opens, the Parrish campus will offer general college education courses designed to prepare graduates to transfer to universities or enter the workforce.

Manatee Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jacki Dezelski called the new campus an “investment in the future of not just our community and its residents, but in our businesses and our workforce.”

The chamber represents 2,200 businesses with a workforce of close to 80,000, Dezelski said, and “their most important resource is their people."

The first phase of development at the Parrish campus is expected to open in fall 2027, according to State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota spokesperson Jamie Smith. The initial phase will encompass site development, parking and design to support a 40,000-square-foot mixed use building housing work force academic programs, collaborative space and administrative offices, she says.  

The second phase for the campus will include a collegiate school that will enable dual enrollment opportunities for high school students. According to Smith, State College of Florida is currently seeking funding for the second phase of development.