Edward Waters University is pouring more than $33 million into its Jacksonville campus through 2028, anchored by a $25 million capital investment covering a student residence facility and the university's first-ever on-campus track and field facility. The residence hall will mark the historically Black university's first new dormitory since 1982. The announcement, made Thursday, comes as the university celebrates its highest enrollment in more than two decades, still 39 students short of its all-time record, and its 160th anniversary.
The new residence hall will offer nearly 200 beds and become the largest residential building on campus once it is completed in 2028, according to Edward Waters University. University President A. Zachary Faison Jr. called the broader investment a “generational investment in the spaces where our Tigers learn, live, compete, and lead,” per the same announcement. The last time new student housing went up on the campus was 1982, making this project a long-awaited addition for a school whose enrollment has been climbing steadily.
That growth is central to why the university says the new construction is needed. Fall 2026 enrollment reached 1,281 students, the university's largest student body in more than two decades, and marks a 37.4% increase since 2019, when enrollment stood at 932 students, the school reported on its enrollment page. Nearly 80% of current students come from Florida, and the university says it has expanded its academic offerings from eight to 17 degree programs as it has grown.
Financing Closed in September
Both the residence hall and the new track facility are being financed through the U.S. Department of Education's Historically Black College and University Capital Financing Program, with Edward Waters closing that financing transaction on September 10, according to the university's announcement. The track project also carries $2 million in support from the City of Jacksonville, and university officials say it will serve not just the school's NCAA Division II athletes but the broader Jacksonville community, including planned health and wellness events.
The city's contribution to the track was debated locally. A Jacksonville City Council committee approved the $2 million city contribution toward what was described as a $4 million track improvement project, according to Citizen Portal, following disputes over community access terms and use agreements. Earlier reporting from Jax Today noted that the city's original proposal offered Edward Waters $2.675 million before council members pared that figure back to $2 million.
Beyond the Dorm and Track
Roughly $9 million more is earmarked for what the university describes as academic innovation, laboratory modernization, student services, historic preservation, and campus safety and infrastructure work, per Edward Waters' announcement. That includes a new innovation lab in Centennial Hall, a renovated chemistry laboratory, renovations to the Lee Cousins Administration Building, and a new student welcome center. Campus-wide upgrades will also touch safety and security systems, resiliency measures, technology, roofing, HVAC, windows, doors, and lighting.
As News4JAX reported the announcement Thursday, the university also disclosed financial milestones underpinning the expansion: six consecutive years of operating surpluses and an institutional endowment that has grown from $2.8 million to $8.6 million, according to the school's enrollment page. Edward Waters also reported retaining 82.9% of students eligible to return from spring to fall 2026.
Part of a Wider HBCU Building Wave
Edward Waters is not alone in racing to add beds as enrollment climbs. North Carolina A&T State University opened its 16th on-campus dorm, the $64 million Bluford Residence Hall, in summer 2026, funded in part by about $59 million in bonds issued in 2023, according to Capital B News. That school's enrollment has topped 16,000 students, with more than 6,000 living on campus.
Other HBCUs are moving on an even larger scale. Southern University and A&M College broke ground on a housing project that will eventually add 800 beds across two phases, the outlet reports, while Xavier University announced an $80 million plan to add more than 850 beds by fall 2027. Spelman College and Morehouse College have jointly announced a $144 million housing development expected to deliver more than 700 beds in apartment-style units. HBCUs make up just 3% of U.S. higher education institutions yet educate more than 10% of Black Americans with college degrees, according to the UNCF figures cited in the same report.
