University of Hartford plans to build $58 million facility for nursing and engineering schools

The University of Hartford in Hartford, Conn., is launching a $90 million initiative to expand two of its most successful schools and to add a new student recreation center.

The Hartford Courant reports that the Vision 2019 initiative is part of an five-year plan that aims to completely upgrade the university by expanding facilities and programs at the College of Education, Nursing and Health Professions, and the College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture.

"There's a huge amount of competition for students," says President Gregory Woodward. "The good news is that a higher percentage of graduates are going to college. We're taking action and making an investment in ourselves."

About $58 million of the $90 million budget will go toward construction of a 62,000 square-foot building for the nursing and engineering schools.

To finance the $90 million vision, the university plans to borrow about $50 million, raise about $20 million, and go into some debt. Student tuition will not be raised to pay for the project. Tuition for full-time undergraduates is about $39,000 per year, with the total cost, including room and board, about $55,000.

Aside from Vision 2019, the university's business school recently underwent a $5 million, 10,000-square-foot expansion, which opened in early September.

The university also opened the Center for Student Success, designed to help new students transition during their first year.

In addition to academic improvements, the university is planning to build a new $30 million recreation center. Woodward says that as a Division I school, Hartford invests heavily in athletic facilities but want to build a better center accessible to non-athlete students as well.

"The core of Vision 2019 is student success ... We're trying to do more than attract students. We're trying retain and graduate them," Woodward says.

Hartford is seeking to increase undergraduate enrollment from 4,500 to 5,000 and graduate enrollment from 1,700 to 2,000.

Woodward expects the bulk of renovations across campus to be completed by 2021.