Page 7 - BusinessWest May 1, 2023

“We’re faced
with not just
a shortage of housing, but
a shortage
of affordable housing, because that’s a significant component of the cost of education for anyone
who comes to Amherst.”
nent of the cost of education for anyone who comes to Amherst. “Some serious joint planning with the surrounding communi-
ties is needed to try to address the need for more affordable hous- ing so that this university doesn’t become a university that can only serve the affluent.”
BusinessWest: We’re seeing some demographic shifts, espe- cially with regard to the numbers of high-school graduates, as well as other trends involving enrollment. What do these mean for the university, and higher education in general?
Subbaswamy: “There has been a lot written about the fact that the number of 18-year-olds, across the country, but in the New England area especially, will drop significantly starting in 2025 for 10 years. But we’re already seeing a lot of changes taking place here. There are some smaller colleges that are really financially stressed, to the point where they may close or merge — we’ve seen both closures and mergers recently. We’ve also seen regional universities, and some of the state colleges, see some decline
in enrollment, and we’ve seen community colleges see a similar decline in enrollment.
“What we’ve seen is that more and more students are begin- ning to apply to the large flagships, and so, nationwide, schools like UMass and others in our class have seen higher numbers of applications, and so we haven’t seen that pinch of demographic decline. I think that’s because of that shift in thinking; some peo- ple who used to apply to small colleges are now asking, ‘will that school be there in four years?’ and thinking they’re better off apply- ing to the state university, especially one that’s robust in terms of enrollment and support from the state. There’s definitely some of that going on.
“Also, there was a time when state boundaries mattered, but now they don’t for education. The University of Pittsburgh and the University of Alabama actively recruit in Massachusetts, and we actively recruit in Texas and places like that. It’s a national — in fact, international — marketplace, so quality matters; education matters. So to keep focusing on those things is very important.”
UMass Amherst made dramatic leaps in the national rankings during Subbaswamy’s tenure.
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