New College seeks $47.5 million in borrowing to pay for USF campus takeover
New College of Florida took over the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus on July 1. Now its trustees meet Tuesday to consider borrowing up to $47.5 million to pay for it — $28.6 million to retire USF's debt on the Atala Hall dorm and student center, $15.7 million to refinance New College's own debt, part of it from a private investor the documents don't name. Repayment would come from student housing and fees, with housing charges projected to rise 10% next year and 5% a year for three years after.
- Up to $47.5 million in borrowing: about $28.6 million to pay off USF debt on Atala Hall (the 200-bed dorm and student center opened in 2024) and $15.7 million to refinance New College's existing debt.
- The structure: a roughly $40 million BankUnited loan through 2056, plus up to $7.5 million from a private investor — unnamed in the documents, per WMNF, which also reported the finance committee passed the measure unanimously.
- Students pay it back: repayment comes from housing charges, fees and Foundation support, and the documents anticipate a 10% housing-charge increase in 2027-28, then 5% a year for three years.
- Not final: trustees consider it Tuesday (Nov. 3), the Board of Governors must also approve, and New College has to assume the campus debt by Dec. 31.
New College of Florida took over the University of South Florida's Sarasota-Manatee campus on July 1, in a state-directed consolidation that drew national attention. The takeover is done. The bill is not. On Tuesday, New College's trustees meet to consider borrowing up to $47.5 million to pay for the campus they now own — because under the deal's terms, New College has to assume the campus debt by December 31.
The borrowing, run through the college's Development Corp., splits two ways. About $28.6 million would pay off USF's debt on Atala Hall, the 200-bed dorm and student center that opened in 2024. Another $15.7 million refinances New College's existing debt. The money itself would come from a roughly $40 million BankUnited loan running through 2056, plus up to $7.5 million from a private investor. WMNF, which covered the finance committee's unanimous vote for the plan last week, noted the investor is not named in the documents — an accredited investor, contacted through a competitive selection process, is as specific as the paperwork gets.
The repayment plan is where the takeover touches students directly. The debt would be serviced from student housing charges, fees and support from the college's Foundation — and the documents anticipate housing charges rising 10% in 2027-28, then 5% a year for the three years after that. The campus's new students, in other words, help pay for the campus's new ownership.
Nothing is final yet. Tuesday's trustee meeting considers the plan; the state Board of Governors must also approve it; and the December 31 deadline for assuming the debt stands either way. The takeover was decided in Tallahassee. The borrowing gets decided in Sarasota, on Election Day, in a meeting most of the students who will pay for it will never hear about. This page will note the vote.