Worcester Business Journal

12 Worcester Business Journal | September 3, 2018 | wbjournal.com Since coming to Worcester in 2000, MCPHS' campus has grown to almost 2,000 students and 18 buildings BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal News Editor Worcester's downtown college F O C U S H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N M CPHS University isn't by a long shot Worces- ter's oldest, largest or most selective college. But no college has grown so exponentially in the nearly two decades MCPHS has been in Worcester, or contributed as much to a presence of higher education in the city's downtown. Today, Quinsigamond Community College has an academic center down- town, and Becker College has dormi- tories. Neither was downtown when MCPHS opened in Worcester in 2000. "I don't know if any of them would have taken the chance without MCPHS's success in paving the way," said Jeanine Went, the executive director of the High- er Education Consortium of Central Massachusetts, whose downtown office on Norwich Street sits amid MCPHS classrooms and residences. Unlike, say, Worcester State University or the College of the Holy Cross, there can be little to indicate to a student or visitor they're at MCPHS. e campus is tightly woven into downtown because MCPHS has grown without adding a single new building of its own. Looking to stretch its legs When it came to Worcester, MCPHS – then the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences – had outgrown its main Boston campus, which is located among Harvard Medi- cal School, Boston Children's Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. at has put it in great company, but also without any room for new class- rooms. "We can't grow in Boston," said Charles Monahan, the MCPHS pres- ident since 1997. "ere isn't a square foot to rent or buy." ere was, however, room in Worces- ter, and Monahan – a Worcester native – has turned to his home city for much of the school's enrollment growth and new programs. "We were looking for growth because there was no place to grow," Monahan said. "We're committed to Worcester. Worcester is our growth area." MCPHS first opened in a single building at 19 Foster St., with an accreditation for just 150 students per academic class. Growth since then has been incremental but fast: by 2007, enrollment was nearly 600, and by 2012, it surpassed 1,100. It's now approaching 2,000 students, Monahan said, and offers 12 degrees in Worcester. 18 properties & counting e initial Foster Street building was soon aer joined by another at 25 Foster St., a $45-million Living and Learning Center with classrooms, a library and residences for around 145 students. A third building on Foster Street opened in 2009; and in 2012, the school made an ambitious move solidifying its role helping to transform a swath of the city, turning the former Crowne Plaza hotel into residences, a student center and home for its optometry program. e site has since been expanded with a $10-million, 54,000-square-foot wing. Less visible has been the school's purchase of three residential properties each on Salisbury Street and Lancaster Street to offer housing for students. In 2013, the school bought the former Morgan Construction Co. building at 15 Belmont St., which furthered the school's geographic expansion. MCPHS is just using the Belmont Street site for parking for now. e school is studying what to do long term with the nearly three-acre site and the 87,000-square-foot building, and MCPHS isn't yet sure, Monahan said. "Eventually, we'll be putting some- thing in there," he said. In less than two decades, MCPHS University's enrollment has grown to a unmistakable presence in downtown Worcester. Its percent five-year growth over the last 15 years has far outpaced Worcester's oldest colleges. MCPHS enrollment growth Note: Enrollment is for fall of each calendar year. Source: WBJ research 0 30% 60% 90% 120% 2002-2007 2007-2012 2012-2017 132.4% 93.5% 42.9% MCPHS University Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester State University Clark University College of the Holy Cross MCPHS' presence has grown downtown, as students in white lab coats can be seen on city streets.

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