Could Vanderbilt University take land once slated for UF in West Palm Beach?

Vanderbilt University could open a business school campus in downtown West Palm Beach on 7 acres of government-owned land formerly slated for the University of Florida.

The plan, in the works for about a year, is being advanced by major real-estate developers building in West Palm Beach. This includes the Related Cos. of New York and the Frisbie Group of Palm Beach. For months, the companies' executives quietly have mined their corporate contacts and talked to elected officials about their plan to bring the Nashville private university to downtown.

Vanderbilt is ranked No. 18 among national universities, according to U.S. News & World Report.

While not an Ivy League school, Vanderbilt is known as a “Southern Ivy” because of its selective admissions process and strong academic reputation. The annual cost to attend Vanderbilt's business school, the Owen School of Management, is about $103,000.