About FGCU

Get to Know Us

Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) is a big part of Southwest Florida. We are a catalyst for the area's economy and a cultural hub for the community. Our students enjoy a world-class education on a campus that is a living, learning laboratory.

Field Research with professor and students

Our Vision

Florida Gulf Coast University will achieve national prominence in offering exceptional value in high-quality educational programs that address regional and statewide needs. Our programs, firmly grounded in the liberal arts and sciences, will employ emerging instructional technologies.

Possessing an entrepreneurial spirit, graduates will be well prepared for productive lives as civically engaged and environmentally conscious citizens with successful careers, ready to pursue further education.

Our Mission

Florida Gulf Coast University, a comprehensive institution of higher education, offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs of strategic importance to Southwest Florida and beyond. FGCU seeks academic excellence in the development of selected programs and centers of distinction in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, health professions, business, and marine and environmental sciences.

Outstanding faculty and staff supported by a strong community of advisors prepare students for gainful employment and successful lives as responsible, productive and engaged citizens. FGCU emphasizes innovative, student-centered teaching and learning, promotes and practices environmental sustainability, embraces diversity, nurtures community partnerships, values public service, encourages civic responsibility, and cultivates habits of lifelong learning and the discovery of new knowledge.

Student during graduation

Photo of President Timur

Leadership

Aysegul Timur, Ph.D., was selected to become Florida Gulf Coast University’s fifth president on May 4, 2023, following a unanimous endorsement from the FGCU Board of Trustees. Her presidency was confirmed by the Florida Board of Governors on June 22, 2023.

Timur, an economist by training, is a Naples resident with more than 24 years of experience in higher education. She earned a doctorate from the University of South Florida and her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Istanbul.

Office of the President

Dynamic Campus Life

Student involvement, community engagement and physical and mental health are as critical to student success as academic development.

Campus Features

With restored or preserved nature making up half of our 800 acres, the FGCU campus is a living laboratory for learning, especially as it pertains to sustainability, one of our guiding principles.

  • 300 residential and migratory birds and endangered species
  • Natural trails winding through pine flatwoods, cypress swamps and other ecosystems
  • 15-acre solar energy field
  • Food Forest designed and maintained by students as a permaculture botanical garden 

Campus Virtual Tour

Lutgert Building

FGCU Athletics

FGCU Athletics competes in the ASUN Conference in NCAA Division I. The men's basketball program's "Dunk City" moniker was earned during the 2013 NCAA Tournament when FGCU became the first No. 15 seed to advance to the Sweet 16. The women's basketball program owns the single-season NCAA record for 3-pointers and regularly makes NCAA Tournament appearances by "Raining 3s" on opponents. 

Nine FGCU programs have been ranked among the nation's Top 25, and student-athletes regularly produce higher GPAs than the FGCU student body as a whole.


Men's Programs: Baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis

Women's Programs: Basketball, beach volleyball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving (competes in the Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association), tennis, volleyball

Women's Basketball Players

Figures in Faculty, Staff, and Research Funding

587 Faculty
914 Staff
$26.18 million awarded 2021-2022
$301 million awarded since FGCU opened in 1997

Discover FGCU Fast Facts

Accreditation

FGCU is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) and 18 other professional accrediting agencies.

ACCREDITATION Details

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