Albany, New York-based Excelsior University has traditionally provided an online-based higher education experience. Creating a standalone learning site was a logical step in the institution’s evolution.
President David Schejbal, his team and the Board of Trustees chose St. Petersburg for the endeavor. Excelsior University opened a physical location, at 9400 4th Street N., in October 2025.
Schejbal has learned a lot within the first year. He believes that the campus will be a catalyst for the organization’s long-term success.
“We want to get the St. Petersburg site fully stabilized and operational,” Schejbal said. “As that site grows, we want to think about potentially adding additional sites in the region to continue to serve the market.”
Founded in 1971, Excelsior University has helped more than 200,000 individuals earn associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees. The decision to invest in the bay area was strategic.
“Our students are all adults and almost all of them have prior college experience,” Schejbal said. “They come to Excelsior to finish degrees, to get the next degree, to get an alternative credential and to be more marketable.”
“Because we are an adult-facing institution, historically, we have also been a military-facing institution,” he continued. “One of the things that attracted us to Florida was the large percentage of veterans. Between St. Pete and Orlando, there are about 850,000 veterans that live in that corridor.”
Excelsior University President David Schejbal.
Excelsior University has a significant student population from Florida. Schejbal added that about 17,000 alumni reside in the state. Additionally, the St. Petersburg-Tampa area is “growing really quickly.”
However, the investment was also the result of a partnership with New York-based Utica University. Schejbal explained that the educational institution utilized the St. Petersburg site for its nursing program.
“For financial reasons, they had to move out of Florida,” he explained. “There was a transition period between our two institutions where we were co-habitating at the site.”
The St. Petersburg campus has been used for a variety of degree programs. A prelicensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing was launched in January. Additionally, students can enroll in electrical engineering technology and cybersecurity courses. Schejbal added that more options will be added over time.
“Applied job skills are some of the things that employers want and students need,” he said. “So, the programs that we decided to offer are programs that are offered in hybrid modalities that allow students to combine the convenience of online with the practical, hands-on experience of classrooms, labs and clinicals.”
Schejbal believes that the nursing degree in particular will be key to the St. Petersburg site’s growth. Students can enter the program at any point, whether they are just starting their higher education journey or already have an associate’s degree or a bachelor’s degree in another discipline.
Excelsior University’s first doctoral degree program, which will focus on business administration, will also be offered at the St. Petersburg location. Courses will begin in January 2027.
Opening the site has not been an easy process.
“There’s a lot of competition in higher education right now,” he explained. “The higher education market is changing really fast. So, everybody is competing for students. Getting noticed, having the right marketing, enrolling students and getting programs going, with any startup, are usually the challenges.”