It was ‘move-in’ day at SUNY Buffalo State Thursday. WBFO’s senior reporter Eileen Buckley says 1,750 freshmen are enrolled for the fall semester.
Carts filled with suitcases, bedding, mini-refrigerators and other college dorm items rolled through the sidewalks of Buffalo State’s Porter Hall...
“The biggest challenge maybe being – adapting, growing up, becoming responsible,” remarked Julian Horton, Queens, New York.
Horton will major in criminal justice and would like to become a U-S Marshall. Horton tells WBFO News he selected Buff State for its “atmosphere”. He pointed to the diversity of the campus as an African-American male.
“This college is very diverse. I see a lot of African-American males and females, so I feel like we will all be able to strive here,” Horton noted.
Horton's mother, Nakia Evans, was helping her son move into his dorm room. As a mom, Evans she worries about her son's new independence. She hopes he makes the right decisions and his mental health navigating as an adult.
“You’ve got to get them accustom to being away from home so they don’t get homesick. You hope that you trained them right to know right from wrong,” Evans said.
Evans says Buff State was an affordable option and her son was eligible for the state's Excelsior tuition-free program.
We asked Buffalo State president Katherine Conway-Turner about the Excelsior program and how it has affected the college this season.
“We’ve certainly seen an increase in applications and many other campuses have certainly throughout the SUNY system. However, there are many things going on – there’s a lot of competition for students, there’s a lot of options. We also know, here in Western New York, we are seeing fewer students graduate from high school and so all of those things factor into the actual numbers.
Buffalo State Enrollment is slightly lower than last year, but more than 18,000 students applied this fall making it the ‘second-highest applicant pool’ among SUNY schools this year.
New this season, the college has renovated Bishop Hall to meet on-campus housing needs to house students enrolled in an honors programs and high-achieving students. Buff State also opened an alumni-visitor center on campus.
