Aug. 21, 2010 saw the start of a new Baruch College ritual—one common across university campuses worldwide—Moving-In Day. That’s right: Baruch College is strictly a commuter college no more.
Beginning Fall 2010, the College has been able to offer students rooms in a state-of-the-art residence hall located in Manhattan’s historic Lower East Side.
Alumni, check your envy at the door and learn the why’s and how’s of this wonderful, decade-in-the-making development with one of its chief architects, Ben Corpus, Baruch’s vice president for student affairs and enrollment management and dean of students.
BCAM: How long have you and other top-level administrators been working on Baruch College’s residence hall initiative?
Corpus: We have been working on a residence option and surveying student demand since 2005, when the College’s collaboratively designed Strategic Plan called for a feasibility study of residence halls.
At that time, Baruch College’s academic profile dramatically increased, putting us in some very impressive national company, mostly residential colleges. To be competitive with those colleges, Baruch College realized it needed a residence hall solution.
BCAM: Had many prospective students inquired about dorms?
Corpus: Yes. Our research and intuition were on target. About four years ago, Baruch’s admissions counselors noticed a dramatic shift in the number one question top applicants were asking: ‘Do you have a residence hall?’
BCAM: Does the new residence option mean that the College is aggressively seeking to increase the number of out-of-state and international students?
Corpus: Not necessarily. We will always have New York City as our enrollment base. But students who could commute don’t always want to. Kids from Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx may want the residence hall experience just as much as any other students do. Also, strong students who have been preparing for college throughout high school often view residence life as an important aspect of their entire college experience. We don’t want to lose these students.
BCAM: Will students opting to live in 101 Ludlow (Baruch College’s shared Lower East Side student residence hall) still get a great value?
Corpus: Absolutely. Considering the academic quality Baruch College offers, there is no college or university in the Northeast—maybe the country—that offers a better combined value for tuition, fees, and housing. Baruch College students—and alumni, for that matter—are not only driven and intellectually sharp but also savvy consumers of higher education. We must meet the 21st-century expectations of our students in order to be competitive.
Related story: At Last: Housing for Undergrads