UTICA, N.Y. — New York State has awarded Utica College $2.5 million in matching state funds toward projects to improve the school’s athletic facilities.
Utica College will use the funding for construction of a new multi-sport, recreational air dome, along with improvements to its Clark Athletic Center.
The state is providing the funding through the Higher Education Capital Matching Grants Program (HECap), New York State Senator Joseph Griffo (R–Rome) and New York State Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi (D–Utica) said in a news release.
The HECap program awards grants to private colleges and universities in New York based on enrollment and relative student financial need, with an eye toward economic development, high technology, urban renewal, or historic preservation.
The program matches $1 in state funding for every $3 raised for these college projects, according to the lawmakers.
Griffo and Brindisi say the funding is a way to “further enhance the appeal of Utica College at a time when the institution is improving the educational experience it offers.”
“This amazing new sports and recreation center fills such an important need and provides so many wonderful opportunities for our students as well as the greater Utica community,” Todd Hutton, president of Utica College, said in the lawmakers’ release. “The facility, along with the renovations to the Harold T. Clark Jr. Athletic Center, not only offer a premier athletic training and competition venues for our students, but support many campus-wide wellness education initiatives, including our new wellness and adventure education degree program.”
Utica College made headlines last October when it announced plans to reduce the cost of undergraduate tuition by 42 percent. The school is slashing tuition from just over $34,000 to just under $20,000.
The tuition “reset,” as Utica College calls it, will take effect this fall for all new and returning students in the on-campus, undergraduate program.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com