Today, Senate President Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) addressed a letter to UConn President Radenka Maric seeking the expansion of housing to support increasing enrollment at UConn’s Storrs and Stamford locations and a long-term plan to meet such goals.
As both locations are seeing increased demand and record enrollment, stories in the media recently have focused on a number of students at both locations struggling to find housing at the campuses. The leaders of the State Senate also noted increases in constituents reporting qualified students are not being accepted at the campuses of their choice.
“The success of UConn is tied to the success of Connecticut,” the Senators wrote. They noted “students that choose to go to another state for school because they did not get into UConn’s main campus have a high likelihood of not returning to our state.”
Increased competition means Connecticut is as such losing a number of high academic performers who will play a key role in helping the state’s workforce and filling the nearly 100,000 open jobs across the state.
“While Connecticut lacks the natural resources of many other states, we have always produced a superior workforce,” Sens. Looney and Duff wrote. “That can only continue if more of our college graduates stay in Connecticut, and UConn is essential to achieving that.”
The Senators hope to see a long-term plan for enrollment and housing by the university. UConn can accommodate 40,000 more students without diminishing the school’s academic quality or distinctions of education.
The full letter can be found below and is linked here.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kevin Coughlin | 203-710-0193 | kevin.coughlin@cga.ct.gov
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