Connecticut state colleges see increase in student enrollment
HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — The Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system Wednesday said its student enrollment increased by 6.2% over last year's spring semester.
The Spring 2025 Preliminary Census Report looked at the four Connecticut State Universities. Separate student enrollment increases at CSU institutions and CT State are as follows:
Western Connecticut State University: 10.1%
Central Connecticut State University: 8.3%
Eastern Connecticut State University: 6.8%
CT State Community College (12 campuses): 6%
Southern Connecticut State University: 3.1%
CSCU's total enrollment increased by 4.4% in the fall semester of 2024.
Connecticut comptroller's college system audit reveals 'systematic' misuse of state funds
School officials believe the increase in enrollment is due to their 'targeted recruitment efforts, collective work in eliminating barriers to higher education, and continuing to meet the evolving needs of its student population.'
'Our colleges and universities have done incredible work in adopting a multipronged approach that focuses on enhancing recruitment and retention efforts, eliminating barriers to higher education, and offering innovative programs that are aligned with workforce demands,' CSCU Chancellor Terrence Cheng said in a statement.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Some are half of what UConn provides, such as the University of Delaware, at 38%, Costanzo said. Enrollment has steadily climbed in recent years at UConn, increasing the need for housing. The number of undergraduates enrolling at the main campus and across the university's four regional campuses rose to 24,979, up 4%, compared with 24,007 the previous year, according to the university. Since 2020, there has been a 4.2% increase. First-year students across all campuses jumped by nearly 12%, as of last fall, compared with 2023. And at the regional campuses, first-year enrollment spiked by 25%, led by Stamford and Hartford. On the Storrs campus, the university opened its newest residence facility — the $215 million Connecticut Hall with 657 beds in a suite design — last fall. Major features include ample collaboration space for students to work together and lounge space on every floor and a 'living room' on the ground level. The lounge space — accounting for about 10% of the building — is intended to build community and friendships which UConn believes is essential to academic success. The new, 275,000-square-foot building is a centerpiece of South Campus, at the corner of Gilbert and Mansfield roads. When it was built, the residence hall was the first new student housing to be constructed on the Storrs campus in six years and nearly two decades before that. A planned redevelopment of UConn's Mansfield Apartments on South Eagleville Road — now demolished — has languished. And a vision for tearing down the 1950s-era North Campus, nicknamed 'The Jungle,' and replacing it will more modern housing has been shelved, at least for now. 'Certainly there was conversation about that, but, quite frankly, with the population of students and the demand for housing right, we're hardly in a position to close North,' Costanza said. 'We need it.' How the 2-year budget passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Ned Lamont will affect the university's future plans for housing is yet to be determined, with a university spokesperson saying 'it is too soon to know.' UConn President Radenka Maric told students and staff in a message sent after the state budget was adopted that the approved FY26 budget provides $268.2 million, which will create a shortfall of $72 million in FY26 for the university. Maric said that UConn Health faces a 'shortfall of $61.8 million.' Costanza said UConn also is increasing the number of off-campus beds it is leasing for student use. At The Oaks on The Square apartments, a privately-owned complex in downtown Storrs on the campus' southern border, UConn is leasing 384 units to accommodate more than 600 undergraduates, Costanza said. And this fall, the first of two new major, off-campus apartment complexes will come up for leasing. In the past, UConn fought off-campus housing plans by private developers, worried that they would compete with on-campus housing. But today, UConn sees the developments as helping to ease housing shortages, especially projects that are just beyond the campus borders. 'It's a very different landscape now,' Stephanie Reitz, a university spokesperson, said.. 'There really doesn't have to be a stark line between one and the other. There can be a blending of service and community and support that doesn't end at the campus border.' The university's office of off-campus and commuter services always helped with housing, Reitz said. 'It also connects them with services on campus so people realize if you live off campus you still have access to (mental health services), Reitz said. 'You can get a UConn meal plan. Living off campus doesn't exclude you from community involvement.' The project, developed by Landmark Properties, that will begin leasing this fall is the 390-unit Standard at Four Corners on Storrs Road, which includes 890 beds. Landmark also has announced that it will break ground later this year on another 738-bed development on North Eagleville Road, adjacent to the campus. In addition to Hartford, UConn also is expanding its housing options in Stamford, its fastest-growing regional campus. First-year enrollment jumped more than 50% to 935, as of fall 2004, compared with 622, the previous year. Total undergraduates rose nearly 11% in the same period. UConn plans to add about 350 student beds for the 2026-2027 academic year at 1201 Washington Blvd., not far from a portion of its student housing at 900 Washington Blvd and just down the street from the Stamford campus. UConn expects to eventually have 750 beds for the Stamford campus. And at UConn's Avery Point campus in Groton, the university is exploring the potential for housing that could be built on 1-acre baseball practice field. But the studies are in the earliest stages and scope or cost has not been determined, Reitz said. In Hartford, the number of first-year students rose nearly 19% in the fall of 2024, compared with the previous year. Overall enrollment rose a little over 3%. Matt Levy, a partner in the $8 million redevelopment of the four-story offices at 525 Main, said he always believed the building would be suitable for UConn housing. Levy, the son of Coleman Levy, a former chairman of the UConn Board of Trustees, said he had reached out to UConn periodically,. But once the Pratt Street location was chosen, Levy saw chances as slim. Then, in late March, Levy said he was contacted by UConn. 'I was surprised, pleasantly surprised,' Levy said. 'Times had changed, and our property was well positioned to take advantage of that opportunity.' Reporting by Courant Staff Writer Sean Krofssik is included. Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@
