The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s announcement that it is looking to be recognized as a doctoral research university is far more than a feather in the cap of the school’s administrators. It is essential if southern New England is to raise itself out of the economic doldrums.
UMass Dartmouth currently offers 10 doctoral degrees, with three more in the works, and has been growing the number of graduates from its programs as well as the research dollars they bring in. Its research budget totaled $25.6 million in 2013.
The connection between research at the university level and the economic health of a region is a direct one. The Boston metro area would not be the economic engine that it is without its academic institutions fueling its growth, as research dollars go from just funding specific projects (and supporting the salaries and capital spending they require) to spinning off businesses and transferring technology.
And while UMass Dartmouth may not turn into MIT anytime soon, the path it is taking is a very good one for the region’s economic health. •