Legislators gave final approval to the Next Generation Connecticut initiative, which calls on the state to invest $1.5 billion in the University of Connecticut over the next 10 years through the issuance of bonds.
The initiative focuses on the expansion of the university’s science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs, and includes the construction of new science labs, equipment, classrooms and students housing.
“In an era of lagging state support for public higher education throughout the nation, Connecticut is going in the opposite direction,” said Susan Herbst, UConn President, in a release. “It is incredibly bold, far-sighted and virtually unheard of in the current climate and will make UConn one of the most research-productive universities in the world.”
The university plans to revolutionize its STEM infrastructure at the Storrs campus, relocate its Greater Hartford campus to the city’s downtown, and to expand its digital media and business programs at the Stamford campus.
With the investment, student enrollment is expected to increase by a third and more than 4,000 permanent jobs will be created. It’s also expected to spur more than $500 million in business activity.
Good luck finding a thing called a J-O-B with a STEM degree. These fields are rapidly being outsourced and commoditized. The “shortage” is a myth in most fields and is being used as a cudgel so that Americans won’t balk at increasing the number of guest worker visas that US allows in tech fields. The fact is that the market is being flooded with cheap STEM labor from abroad. That problem needs to be fixed before students spend a fortune and rack up massive debt obtaining a degree that may or may not provide a job.