Hartford Business Journal

14 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | OCTOBER 19, 2026 Trinity College President Daniel Lugo is overseeing $20.6 million in upgrades to the school's Hartford campus this year. Contributed Photo Playing Offense Trinity College president bets on Hartford and growth as enrollment cliff arrives several hundred students without losing the small classes central to its appeal, while gaining economies of scale to expand course offerings. "We're an urban campus, so we should feel like a vibrant place that mirrors the vibrancy that we have around the city," he said. Lugo argues that as the pool of prospective students shrinks, families worried about the value of a degree will gravitate toward colleges they trust to hold that value for decades. Trinity College ranked No. 31 among national liberal arts colleges in U.S. News & World Report's 2027 rankings, up six spots from the previous year. Other institutions, Lugo said, may face consolidation or closure. "Some are going to be consolidated, some are going to decide that their fiduciary best interest is to shut down," Lugo said. "That's not the part of the market that Trinity is in." The Hartford bet In September, Trinity announced a new program that will cover full tuition, housing and meals for Hart- ford residents admitted to the college. The initiative, called Hometown Hart- ford, will begin with students entering in the 2027-28 academic year and will be funded through the college's existing financial aid budget. At current rates, the package is worth about $93,000 a year, including $72,820 in tuition. The announcement drew praise from Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam. "Trinity College is an anchor of opportunity in Hartford, and this bold investment underscores President Lugo's deep commitment to our city and its residents," Arulampalam said. "By guaranteeing full scholarships for our Hartford students …, Trinity is breaking down financial barriers and building a direct bridge to opportunity for our young people." The average award Trinity College provided for students receiving aid in the class of 2030 was $59,892, the school said. Lugo said Trinity typically enrolls five to 10 Hartford students a year. He wants to increase that to 15 to 20. "It's always amazing to me how sometimes the students and families closest to you can know the least about you," he said. "We can be a mystery to families from Hartford." Trinity College is also expanding its downtown footprint. It is a partner in Hartford's Applied Artificial Intelli- gence Center, which occupies about 7,000 square feet at 10 Constitution Plaza and serves as a pilot for a larger workforce training and innovation center planned at State House Square. The state awarded $20 million in August toward the 100,000-square- foot Hartford Innovation Center, which will include collaborative labs, class- rooms and project spaces focused on artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. Hartford HealthCare, The Hartford, Travelers, Nassau, Google and Quan- tumCT have made multiyear financial commitments to the project. Lugo said Trinity will also participate in the larger center. Those ties are meant to keep By Andrew Larson alarson@hartfordbusiness.com D aniel Lugo doesn't dispute the gloomy headlines about higher education's shrinking pool of students. He just doesn't think they apply to Trinity College. "The demographic cliff is real, the headwinds are real," said Lugo, who has been Trinity College's president since July 2025. "But that is impacting higher education in lots of different ways. And you have to be really specific about what part of the market you are in as an academic institution." Fifteen months into his presidency, Lugo has laid out an expansion plan for the liberal arts college that bucks industry trends. He wants Trinity to enroll more students while spending $20.6 million on its 100-acre campus this year, nearly four times last year's $5.4 million. He has also promised free tuition, housing and meals to admitted students from Hartford, Trinity's home since 1823, though only a handful of city residents enroll in a typical year. Lugo, who arrived in Hartford from Queens University of Charlotte, said Trinity College spent the pandemic years managing risk and is now pursuing growth. "We're ready to get on the offensive side of the game," he said. The cliff arrives Birth rates fell sharply after the 2008 recession, and children born then are now reaching college age. The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education projects the number of U.S. high school graduates peaked in 2025 and will fall through 2041, with the Northeast declining faster than the national average. Trinity College's answer this fall was its largest first-year class in years: 572 students, up 19% from the 482 who enrolled a year earlier. The class before that numbered 542 students. Trinity College received 7,055 applica- tions for the class of 2030 and admitted 2,224, an acceptance rate of about 32%. Undergraduate enrollment stands at 2,194. Trinity is targeting first-year classes of 550 to 600 students and total undergraduate enrollment of 2,100 to 2,400. Lugo said the college could add Work is underway to replace heating and cooling pipes at Trinity College's Hartford campus. Contributed Photo

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