Jasper Hall, the facility housing the graduate students. MACK OLMSTED/THE QUADRANGLE
By Mack Olmsted, Asst. Arts & Entertainment Editor
Starting in the fall of 2023, Manhattan College is offering brand new graduate student housing in Jasper Hall.
This initiative was started through president Milo Riverso’s leadership team, who plans to set graduate students up in single rooms. The idea came from the team seeking to find creative ways to utilize empty space on campus. As of now, there are 12 students interested in taking part in the program.
Admissions sent out an email with information about the initiative to prospective graduate students who may be interested and to all alumni from the last 10 years who have received a bachelor’s degree at the college.
By doing this, admissions hoped for the opportunity for prospective graduate students to not only apply and build up enrollment in the graduate school but also take advantage and build revenue in a housing program.
Vice President of enrollment management for admissions Kevin Cavanagh explained to The Quadrangle that admissions hopes the new initiative succeeds so that the program may grow in the future.
“It’ll be exciting to see Jasper Hall have more activity and for us to see if this is a strategy that can help the college both in terms of bringing in more revenue into the residence halls and more revenue into graduate enrollment,” Cavanagh said.
Graduate students who are taking advantage of the program are not required to have a meal plan, but the two meal plans already available to other residential students are still available for anyone who wishes to use them.
Anna Burnett, a graduate student pursuing her master’s in business administration, is one of the 12 students participating in the new housing program.
Burnett says she appreciates what the college is offering to her, noting that balancing her life while commuting, working and studying was difficult.
“I thought this would be a great opportunity because I could have more time to study rather than worrying about how I was supposed to get from point A to point B,” Burnett said.
“I would say the price is fair. If you live off campus, you have to not only pay for rent, you have to pay for laundry, food, expenses, utilities, Wi-Fi, electricity, which can be really stressful for a student. So I think it’s great that if you live on campus, you have all of these included which is very helpful.”
Burnett explained that paying for housing was convenient for her. While she said a lot of people would probably be overwhelmed, she found out about the graduate plus loan through the financial aid office.
“I was able to get housing and not worry about payment yet,” Burnett said. “Obviously, I’d have to pay it within a couple of years after I get a good job, but this definitely gave me security. They [the financial aid office] were very helpful and willing to talk me through it on campus.”
Matt Lewis, director of residence life, is proud of the program and hopes for success in the future.
“I hope that this provides a valuable resource for graduate students to ensure a smooth transition to life at Manhattan and that it makes Manhattan a more enticing place for other prospective graduate students in the future,” Lewis said.
Burnett was thankful for the new program and expressed the importance of living on campus.
“I think as a graduate student if you’re looking to live on campus, it’s great if you’re trying to establish your self-identity,” Burnett said. “I love that this is helping me not have outside distractions because obviously living with family is amazing, working is amazing, but it can really distract you from being on your own path if you don’t have your own space. So I think this is a great thing for people who are trying to really get to know themselves and to forge their own path.”