University of North Florida - Coggin College of Business

The Coggin College of Business at the University of North Florida has quite a bit to offer young business students and working professionals, many of whom describe UNF as “the best school in Jacksonville.” “Location,” “reputation,” and an “amazing logistics program” are just some of the reasons many students offer for this. “I went here as an undergrad,” one student tell us, “and had the best experience with the teachers and students. It was an easy decision to continue my education at UNF.” While UNF is a relatively large university, many current MBA students laud the “small classes” at Coggin, particularly the “online opportunities” and “evening classes” for those students with full-time jobs. We are told time and again that many of Coggin’s students are “motivated, hard-working professionals looking to advance their skills and knowledge.”

Inside the classroom, as one student puts it, “professors are eager to facilitate learning.” Another student majoring in information technology in higher education says, “I appreciated the emphasis on group and project work, which resulted in greater camaraderie and cohesion with my fellow classmates.” However, in a considerate counterpoint, this student said some professors tend to “gloss over critical issues that I would think would be foundational in the curriculum of any business school today: ethics, social responsibility, and sustainability.” While courses with a sustainability and green jobs focus are not currently offered in the MBA program at UNF, other efforts are made to broaden the school’s reach in the business community, including hosting Women in Business networking events and various support groups for women, minorities, and international students.

Coggin enrolls about 285 students in its MBA program, and roughly 80 percent of the student body works full time while attending school, which explains UNF’s abundance of evening, weekend, and hybrid course offerings. However, those with more flexible schedules may take advantage of UNF’s study abroad program, with partner universities in France, Germany, Poland, China, and India. The traditional MBA program at UNF offers degrees and concentrations in accounting, construction management, e-business, economics, finance, international business, logistics, management applications, and sports management. In addition to the MBA program, UNF offers a unique GlobalMBA, a sixtythree-hour program in which students earn a UNF MBA as well as a joint master’s degree from the University of Warsaw and Cologne University of Applied Sciences. GlobalMBA participants join a cohort of about forty students who spend a residency at Cologne University of Applied Sciences (Germany), University of Warsaw (Poland), Dongbei University of Finance & Economics (China), and UNF.

The Career Management Center offers specialized services, including a professional skills development program, to assist Coggin students in securing internships and full-time positions. The Center provides many of the services one expects from a large university, including student counseling, recruiting and networking events, resumé writing workshops, and internship programs. While some students consistently recruit Coggin students [to] stand out more to employers,” the list of companies that have attended previous events at UNF is quite impressive. The list includes Bank of America, Bi-Lo Holdings, Black Diamond Performance Reporting, Black Knight Financial Services, CEVA Logistics, CIT, Citi, Crowley Maritime, CSX, Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, EverBank, EY, Fidelity Investments, FIS, Florida Blue, FNF, GE Capital, JEA, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, KPMG, McGladrey, MECLABS, Medtronic, Merrill Lynch, PwC, Rayonier, State Farm, SteinMart, Web.com, Wells Fargo, Volkswagen USA, and many more. A large majority of graduating students (99 percent) accept employment in Florida or other southern states.

Located in Jacksonville, a “great mid-sized city” that’s “near the beach” and “surround- ed by islands,” UNF’s “rapidly growing” 1,300-acre campus has been “designed for future expansion,” which can only mean good things for this young university.

The Coggin Business School is mostly a school for “working adults” who “cannot afford to stop working for two years,” and in many cases are “entrenched because they own homes.” With this type of student body, one might not expect an abundance of social activities on campus, but they’d be wrong. “There are many clubs and activities on campus,” one student informs us. “They have live concerts and movies for free . . . throughout the year. The new student union is very comfortable,” and students can now enjoy wireless access from anywhere on campus. However, for such a young university as UNF, there is always room for improvement. One student explains that he “would like to see more green initiatives” on campus, like “green rooftops” and “water saving urinals” that can save up to “40,000 gallons of water each year.”