At a university of 17,030 students, the University of Massachusetts Boston is brimming with diversity and intellect. With students from 149 countries, students are bound to learn a thing or two from their peers.
UMass Boston was created from a need for an institute of higher learning that was affordable for the Boston community. As mentioned on the university website, social upheaval, urban unrest, and a rapidly increasing demand for higher education fueled the creation of UMass Boston in 1964.
Other colleges and universities in and around the city are overpriced for many members of the community, not to mention that these institutes of higher learning are privately owned and operated. None other than UMass Boston is funded by the state.
We are a growing institution. There have been three new buildings in a 12-year span: The Campus Center (2004), the Integrated Sciences Complex (2015), and University Hall (2016), the not quite fully-operational addition made this semester.
As we grow, so does our applicant list. More and more students are applying to attend the university every semester.
The existence of apartments at Harbor Point and The Peninsula have brought students suitable to pay rent and utilities, buy groceries and respect neighbors, and even live with non-UMass Boston students. This is a somewhat different experience from other universities.
Dorms on campus will introduce a new group of students to our community. These first-year students will have less responsibilities than past first years living in apartments close by, not to mention first-year students who can not afford either option.
Have we asked ourselves how the university will decide which one thousand first-year students will be the ones to live in the new building? Who will be eligible for the dorms? Will it be those who can financially afford the hefty price tag? Unfortunately, most likely.
Little by little, decision by decision, UMass Boston is pricing out the intended population it was created to serve.
One thousand beds. One thousand students. All first years. What’s the worst that could happen?