Davie-based NSU signed a lease late last year for twice the office space at Sabal Park, a massive business park near Interstate 75 on Tampa's east side. The 10-year commitment is for the entire three-story Sabal Corporate Center building at 3632 Queen Palm Drive, owned by Orlando-based Eola Capital, and replaces NSU's smaller campus within the park.

The new center will offer 18 degree programs in areas such as business, education, psychology, speech-language pathology, early childhood education and human resource management. A new anesthesiologist assistant program is also being introduced, with 26 students enrolling initially in the two-year degree program.

"Additionally, the center will create new jobs in teaching, operations and management," says Ken Ma, NSU associate director of public affairs. "It is expected to generate $12 million in economic impact to Tampa Bay's economy."

The new Tampa Student Educational Center is equipped with high-tech classrooms with videoconferencing capabilities, advanced healthcare simulation laboratories with robotic mannequins, computer labs and wireless Internet throughout the facility. NSU, which has offered degree programs in the Tampa Bay market for the past three decades, previously occupied 41,179 square feet in the Sabal Park Plaza Building.