USF Sarasota-Manatee – Developer Carlos Beruff argues Florida should align universities with regional growth, backing a different approach to USF’s Sarasota-Manatee campus.
A long-time Florida homebuilder says the state’s universities should be planned like the region they serve—scaling with growth rather than clinging to outdated footprints.
Carlos Beruff. founder and CEO of Medallion Home and a builder active in Sarasota and Manatee counties since 1984. framed his view as an investment lesson learned through cycles of economic stress.. Over four decades. he said. the area has weathered three recessions and two devastating housing downturns. repeatedly rebounding because underlying demand never vanished.. People, he argued, keep choosing to live in the region—and increasingly to work, raise families, and build careers there.
That sense of momentum, Beruff said, is exactly why he wants the debate over USF’s Sarasota-Manatee presence to be rethought. He opened by singling out the University of South Florida itself, praising what he called major, forward-looking decisions about the university’s future.
He pointed to an ongoing capital push that includes plans for a new on-campus football stadium. infrastructure changes on the university’s East campus. and Fletcher District—a 138-acre mixed-use development on a former golf course described as backed by hundreds of millions in public and private investment.. Beruff also highlighted a redevelopment across Fletcher Avenue. where the former University Mall is being transformed into Rithim. which he described as bringing housing. research. and entertainment to the corridor.
Beruff further said USF’s annual economic impact across Florida approaches $10 billion, presenting those projects as evidence of an institution committing to where it is headed.
Even so, he argued that the conversation should not stop with Tampa.. Beruff said both USF and New College are public institutions and carry what he called a regional obligation.. In his framing, Florida’s university system exists to serve the people and communities that fund it through public support.. He said taxpayers in Sarasota and Manatee deserve universities aligned with where their region is going. not where it once was.
From that standpoint, Beruff described the USF Sarasota-Manatee satellite as a structural mismatch with the scale of regional growth.. He said the Sarasota-Manatee campus serves roughly 500 full-time students about 60 miles from Tampa. and he characterized that as a structural observation rather than a comment on the quality of the teaching and learning happening there.
He argued that a 50. 000-student system facing major investment does not need a small satellite campus to anchor its identity or future.. Instead. he said Sarasota and Manatee are experiencing sustained transformation—something that. in his view. happens rarely—and growth at that pace requires institutions that can scale accordingly.
Beruff pointed to the pace of homebuilding and new development in Manatee and Sarasota as evidence of that environment.. He cited master-planned communities and large-scale projects in the region. arguing that the velocity of growth calls for higher education that grows in ambition with it—especially as the region competes nationally for employers. talent. and investment.
The comparison then shifted to New College.
Beruff said New College had been in serious trouble several years ago. citing collapsed enrollment. deteriorating facilities. and public questioning of its future in Tallahassee.. He said that trajectory has changed under Gov.. Ron DeSantis’ newly appointed leadership, describing a rise in enrollment to more than 850 undergraduates.
He also said athletics have launched at the NAIA level and that Washington Monthly ranked New College the number one public liberal arts residential college in the country three years in a row.. In Beruff’s telling. New College is now growing and finding its footing at “exactly the right moment. ” while also facing the practical constraints that come with expansion.
More students, he said, means more classrooms, housing, and laboratory space. For a residential college on a fixed campus, Beruff argued, there is a ceiling—and the key question is whether Florida plans for what comes next or waits until growth forces a crisis.
He presented the core contrast as follows: USF is investing heavily in Tampa and. in his view. deserves full credit for that vision.. But he argued USF does not also need to treat an underused satellite campus 60 miles away as untouchable. particularly when public resources and institutional focus should match the regions each campus primarily serves.
In Beruff’s framework. USF’s primary obligation is to the Tampa Bay area. while New College’s obligation is to Sarasota and Manatee.. He said that is how he believes a state university system is meant to function: with each institution earning its place by serving its community with focus and distinction. rather than holding territory for its own sake.
Beruff then addressed what he called the practical components of the proposed transfer.. He said all currently enrolled USF students would be guaranteed the ability to complete their programs without disruption. describing that assurance as non-negotiable and written into the transfer plan.. He also said workforce programs tied to healthcare and professional sectors—specifically nursing, cybersecurity, and accounting—must be preserved.
He added that New College and the State College of Florida are prepared to protect those workforce programs.
For Beruff, the long-term lesson from decades of investing is that communities that succeed are the ones that align institutions toward the future. He said USF is doing that for Tampa at scale, and he argued Sarasota and Manatee counties should apply the same standard of thinking.
“The time to act is now,” he said, positioning his remarks as a push for a reassessment of where university capacity should meet regional demand.
Beruff’s perspective is rooted in his role in building and civic service in southwest Florida.. He founded Medallion Home and has been involved with boards including Citizens Insurance. the State College of Florida. the Sarasota-Manatee Airport Authority. and the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
USF Sarasota-Manatee campus Carlos Beruff Florida higher education New College enrollment university transfer plan Sarasota Manatee growth
wait they building a football stadium now?? thats where the money goes lol
I dont trust developers making decisions about universities, like this guy builds houses so why is he even involved in this conversation. feels like he just wants more people moving in so he can sell more homes honestly.
my cousin went to USF Sarasota and said the campus was basically nothing, like barely any classes offered and you had to drive to Tampa for anything real. so I get why people are frustrated but I also dont think some random builder should be the one deciding how universities expand. he probably doesnt even have a degree no offense. and like the whole thing about recessions and housing downturns, that has nothing to do with where a college should be located. im not even sure what point he was trying to make with all that.
this is literally just a rich developer trying to get the state to invest in his backyard so property values go up and he can keep building and selling, been happening in florida my whole life, they dress it up with words like regional growth and forward thinking but follow the money every single time, guy has been building in sarasota since 1984 so of course he wants a big university nearby, more students means more demand means more homes means more profit for Beruff, I am so tired of these guys acting like they care about education when they are really just protecting their own investment portfolios, and the football stadium thing just proves nobody is actually thinking about students here