Getting To Know: University of New Haven (CT)
It was an interesting contrast to visit the University of New Haven the day after I visited Yale. Originally founded as a branch of Northeastern University on land formerly owned by Yale in West Haven, the University of New Haven has approximately 5,000 undergraduates and more than 3,000 graduate students.
I felt that I had to make a photo off the admissions office the featured image for this campus. Unlike Yale, where you have to work to find parking to get to the admissions visitor’s center, the University of New Haven places the admissions office right near the main gate and sections off parking spaces for prospective students who come to visit. That also told me something about parking on campus for the students. The admissions office staff was extremely helpful and welcoming; their attractive quarters are also a very positive extension of the university’s marketing. I dropped a photo of the information session space below.
This school is located within a fairly competitive local market
It’s quite close to Sacred Heart University, Quinnipiac University and Fairfield University, both private institutions with ambitious plans for growth, This school is also close to Southern Connecticut State University. The University of New Haven markets itself much like Quinnipiac and Scared Heart, selling “hands-on” learning experiences and opportunities to pursue undergraduate and advanced studies in high-demand majors.
The University of New Haven benefits by offering programs that these other schools, including state universities, do not. It has the advantage of being in a state where the flagship state university has become more selective. For example, the University of Connecticut’s main campus has become more selective than Rutgers’ main campus (56% vs. 61%) and UMass Amherst’s (59%).
The University of New Haven tries to offer academic advantages.
This school offers over 100 academic programs, over 50 dual degree options and many certificates. It stands out by offering:
A school dedicated to criminal justice and forensic science.
The school is named for Dr. Henry C. Lee who provide investigative assistance for murder of Jon Benet Ramsey, and the reinvestigation of the Kennedy assassination, among many other criminal cases. This will probably be the only school that offers more options in this field than it does in business or engineering. I dropped some photos below, since this building houses signature academic programs..
Difficult to find programs, such as:
- Options in Music Industry, Music Technology & Innovation and Music & Sound Recording.
- Opportunities to study gaming and game design can study Game Design & Interactive Media in the College of Arts & Sciences or Esport & Digital Game Management in the business school.
- Options in Marine Science & Marine Policy. It helps that the campus is close to Long island Sound.
- The only undergraduate programs in Dental Hygiene, Paramedicine, Interior Design and Hospitality & Tourism Management in Connecticut.
- A choice of programs in Sport Management or Sport Media.
- Business programs in Actuarial Science and Business with a concentration in Criminal Justice, the latter I’ve seen no place else.
There are ambitions beyond academics.
The University of New Haven athletic program is in its first season in NCAA Division I competition.
Nineteen of the 20 varsity sports compete in the Northeast Conference, This sets up interesting rivalries with Central Connecticut State University, Fairfield, Long island University, Quinnipiac, Merrimack College and Sacred Heart. However, other rivals are much further from from campus.
The only sport that does not compete immediately in the conference is football, which still played a full schedule of Division I rivals, including some conference members. The football Chargers went 5-5 in their first Division I season. That’s not bad considering that the university had less than three weeks to make a schedule after announcing the decision to move into D-1 play. The football Chargers also distinguish themselves by playing on a blue field, much like Boise State in the Pac-12. Only their field has gold instead of orange-red accents. Also, unlike many smaller schools that play at this level, the team is supported by a 250 member marching band. You won’t see that at a Yale football game.
I understand the move to D-1 sports. It will raise the profile of the school vs. neighbors such as Sacred Heart and Quinnipiac that also complete at this level. The University of New Haven has had successes at the D-2 level in basketball, football and volleyball. The university has also produced a National League Cy Young Award winner (Steve Bedrosian), and a Harlon Hill Trophy winner in football (Roger Graham)
in football, the University of New Haven is the only private school to earn an NCAA D-2 football playoff bid in each of the past four seasons before the move to D-1. The Chargers have also won six conference football titles. I’m not sure that D-2 success will quickly translate into D-1 success, given the higher quality of the competition and the mobility of players through the transfer portal. But the portal also helps attract players from higher-profile programs who want more playing time.
The university is trying to develop a research presence.
At the beginning of this year the university announced that it had acquired a former shopping center site in West Haven to become a research and development center.
The 150,000 square foot property will focus on advanced manufacturing and workforce training. This definitely enlarges the university’s presence in the New Haven metro area, and it’s a unique ambition versus those of the nearby schools. This project is too early in the development stages to mention new programs for faculty and students to engage with the business community. However, having been an economic development professional in a past life, I can see future students assisting on research, and possibly the incubation of new businesses.
About half of the undergraduate student body comes from in-state.
Most of the rest come from neighboring states as well as New Jersey. There are ambitions to grow to have more than 6,000 undergraduates. I can see a path to growth through the academics as well as athletics where recent investments have been substantial for a private mid-sized school.
The University of New Haven is not exceptionally selective.
Sixty percent of the applicants for the Class of 2028 were accepted. They had an average high school GPA of 3.4. Admissions are test optional.Just over quarter of the class submitted SAT scores; the middle 50 percent were between 1060 and 1270.
My impression was that the University of New Haven looked more closely for reasons to admit versus reasons to deny admission. However, the school also lost about a quarter of its previous freshman class. The most recent four-year graduation rate was 56 percent. But there are also many combined programs for a school of this size. So, it’s possible that the idea is for the motivated students to stay and earn their bachelor’s and graduate degrees.
For those who stay and finish the outcomes are quite impressive especially in business, criminal justice & forensic science, engineering and the health professions.
The University of New Haven tries to help with financial aid.
Direct charges-tuition & fees, room & board-are slightly less than $70,000. There is a fairly generous scholarship program although, on average, the university met just under 70 percent of need.. The average need-based award for last year’s incoming freshmen class was approximately $32,600. Merit-based awards averaged just over $27,000. Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart follow a similar strategy. However, none of these schools is likely to undercut resident charges at a public university, presuming the desired academic program is available.
Student loan debt is a concern. Eighty-one percent of 2024 graduates borrowed to cover educational costs; nearly a third needed to take out private loans. Some of these costs might have gone towards an advanced degree as well as the bachelors. The school reported an average student loan debt of over $49,000 given the high share of graduates who needed to take out private loans.
The University of New Haven campus is easy to navigate.
There’s wide walkways and little disruption from vehicular traffic. marketing seems central to this school. The admissions offices are close to the main gate, with the Charlie the Charger mascot nearby. This is a school has been around for over a century. But I got the feeling that this was a much younger school while on my tour. I dropped some photos below.
I’d recommend living on campus at least at the start–about half of the undergraduates already do–especially as part of a living-learning community, and possibly in the later years, too. The neighborhood surrounding this campus, however, is not especially nice, though students do live off campus. To me, this was the strongest negative versus other schools that prospective students are likely to consider.
Conclusions
I respect the ambitions of the University of New Haven. My visit reminded me of prior visits to Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart as well as Merrimack College (MA) and Monmouth University (NJ). This school works hard to define its market and offer strong programs in areas where other considered schools might not. The best reason to come here is the academics, presuming that you have your heart set on a particular program or believe that you can decide between two or three possible options. This is a less intimidating academic environment than one would find at a larger public institution. But unlike the other schools mentioned here, the University of New Haven needs to become a bigger player in the revival of its surroundings.
The Report Card for University of New Haven
- Four-Year/Six-Year Graduation Rates: C/C
- Freshman Retention: C
- Costs: C
- Comforts: B+
- Community: B+
- Curriculum: A
- Connections: A (NYC metro area/Connectcut)/B (Massachusetts)/C (elsewhere)
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