Edward Waters University in Jacksonville, Florida

Edward Waters University is a private, not-for-profit, four-year historically Black university at 1658 Kings Road in Jacksonville, affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

The U.S. Department of Education's College Navigator lists the university (IPEDS ID 133526) at 1658 Kings Rd., Jacksonville, Florida 32209, with a general phone number of (904) 470-8000, bachelor's and master's degrees, campus housing, a Carnegie classification of Baccalaureate Colleges: Diverse Fields, and a student-to-faculty ratio of 14 to 1. On its home page the university says it was founded in 1866 by members of the AME Church and that Edward Waters University, formerly Edward Waters College, is Florida's first independent institution of higher learning and Florida's first institution established for the education of African Americans.

The university's About page gives its mailing address as 1840 W. 9th St., Jacksonville, FL 32209, and says it is a member of the United Negro College Fund. Its October 8, 2026 announcement states that its accreditor, the Commission on Colleges and Universities, formerly the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, reaffirmed its accreditation in December 2025 through 2035. The Office of the President lists Dr. A. Zachary Faison, Jr. as president and chief executive officer.

The school began in Live Oak, moved to Jacksonville in 1883 and took the Edward Waters name in 1892, according to two Florida historical markers.

The 2017 Edward Waters College Original Site marker in Live Oak calls the town the birthplace of Florida's oldest black college. It records that in 1866 the Rev. Charles H. Pearce, an elder of the AME Church, aided by the Rev. William G. Steward, Florida's first AME pastor, raised funds for a school offering elementary, high school, college and seminary level education. In 1870 the AME Church resolved to expand it, and in 1872 Live Oak was chosen for the school site for its proximity to railroads, with 10 acres purchased for construction.

The two state markers name the Live Oak school differently. The Live Oak marker calls it Brown Theological Seminary, renamed Brown University in 1873, while the 2013 Centennial Hall marker in Jacksonville calls it Brown's Theological Institute and adds that Pearce was sent to Florida in 1865 by Bishop Daniel Alexander Payne. Both markers agree that the school moved to Jacksonville in 1883 and that in 1892 it was renamed Edward Waters College in honor of the third bishop of the AME Church.

The Great Fire of 1901 destroyed the Jacksonville campus, and in 1904 the school obtained new land and began its present campus on Kings Road.

That account is on the Centennial Hall marker at 1715 Kings Road, which states that Centennial Hall, built in 1916 and named to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the AME Church, is the oldest structure on the campus. The Classical Revival building was designed by the firm of Howells and Stokes, which the marker places in Seattle, Washington, was renovated in 1979 and serves as the main library. The marker records that Centennial Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

The wider campus core followed. The National Park Service weekly list for August 5 to 12, 2022, shows the Edward Waters College Historic District at 1658 Kings Rd., reference MP100007972, listed on 8/8/2022 as part of the African American Architects in Segregated Jacksonville, 1865-1965 multiple property submission. The university's own October 2026 announcement calls the Lee Cousins Administration Building the second oldest building on campus and its main administration building, and names the Hatcher Stewart Science and Mathematics Building and Milne Auditorium among the facilities to be improved.

Federal data count 1,177 students at Edward Waters in fall 2024, and the university says fall 2026 enrollment reached nearly 1,300.

The College Navigator profile breaks the fall 2024 count for the Jacksonville campus into 1,087 undergraduates and 90 graduate students, with 165 undergraduate transfers in, and records that 59 percent of entering students were counted as full-time, first-time in 2024. The university's announcement says fall 2026 enrollment was the highest in more than 20 years, up nearly 40 percent since 2019, and that nearly 80 percent of students are Floridians; those are the university's own figures, not yet in the federal data.

The same NCES profile gives an average net price of $12,029 in 2023-2024 for full-time beginning students who received grant or scholarship aid, down from $13,763 in 2022-2023, and notes that tuition and fees may vary by program. Edward Waters students are eligible for Pell Grants and other federal aid, the profile says.

Edward Waters announced on October 8, 2026, more than $33 million in campus capital projects through 2028, led by a residence facility of nearly 200 beds and its first on-campus track.

According to the university, a $25 million investment funds the residence facility, the first new student housing on the campus since 1982, and a track and field facility for its NCAA Division II athletes. The university says the two are funded through the U.S. Department of Education's Historically Black College and University Capital Financing Program, a transaction it closed on September 10, 2026, and that the track is made possible in part by $2 million in support from the City of Jacksonville. Completion of the residence facility is anticipated in 2028, with LandSouth Construction of Jacksonville as builder and Niles Bolton Associates as architect.

Nearly $9 million more is to go to a renovation of the main floor of Centennial Hall, including restoration of its windows and brickwork and a new innovation lab; a renovation of the second, third and fourth floors of the Lee Cousins Administration Building, whose fourth floor has been out of service since 2023; a renovated chemistry laboratory in Hatcher Stewart; a Student Welcome Center; and enhancements to Milne Auditorium. The announcement also says Edward Waters became Florida's only NCAA Division II HBCU in 2024, grew from 8 to 17 degree programs and graduated the largest class in its history in May 2026, in its 160th anniversary year.

Last verified: October 18, 2026, on the Edward Waters University home, About, Office of the President and October 8, 2026 announcement pages, the NCES College Navigator profile, the National Park Service weekly list of August 12, 2022, and two Florida Division of Historical Resources markers.