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Fast News from FSU

Campus News

FSU Celebrates New Solar Canopy with State and Local Officials

During a special ribbon-cutting event in April, the Framingham State University community celebrated the installation of a large solar canopy on campus over the Salem End Parking Lot, which was made possible through a unique public-private partnership.

The University partnered with the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) Leading by Example Program and the PowerOptions Consortium to have solar panels installed on campus at no cost to FSU. Solect Energy installed, financed and will maintain and operate the solar panels, while FSU has entered into a 20-to-25–year power purchase agreement with the company at a fixed discounted price for the term.

The Healey-Driscoll Administration awarded FSU a grant of $436,000 to support the solar canopy project, which included charging for six electric vehicles and pre-wiring for an additional 10 parking spaces for future EV charging. FSU is estimated to save $300,000 in electricity costs from its solar canopy.

“We are incredibly grateful to the Healey-Driscoll Administration and our other partners for supporting this initiative,” said FSU President Nancy S. Niemi.
“At FSU, sustainability is not just
a talking point—it is a core value. Our students, faculty and staff have been vocal and passionate about the need to take real, measurable action to address climate change. As such, these solar canopies are more than an

energy solution—they are a statement that we recognize the urgency of climate change and that institutions like ours must lead by example in the transition to a more sustainable world.”

The new solar parking canopy system has a capacity of 720 kW and will generate over 800,000 kWh annually. Solect recently installed a rooftop solar system at Larned Hall; when combined with earlier installations, the campus will total over 1 MW of installed solar capacity. The combined clean energy kWh will offset roughly 9 percent of total electric use, and will yield the environmental equivalent of reducing CO2 by over 12,000 tons. That’s the equivalent of taking 172 gasoline-powered cars off the road each year.

President Niemi and state and local officials celebrate the
completion of a new solar canopy.

SUCCESS Funding

FSU Receives $1.3 million to boost academic student support

Framingham State University has been awarded $1,315,502 in SUCCESS funding from the Healey-Driscoll Administration for the specific intent of boosting student support and raising graduation rates.

The funding will support a wide range of initiatives, including the cost of an additional academic advisor, two new career counselors, as well as expansion of the physical space on campus dedicated to mentoring, advising and tutoring students. The money is also going to support professional development training for faculty advisors and an expansion of the University’s data and assessment infrastructure.

“We are grateful to the Healey-Driscoll Administration for providing this critical funding,” said FSU President Nancy S. Niemi. “Supporting student success is at the center of everything we do. These resources will enable us to provide additional dedicated mentoring and tutoring to students who need it, while also allowing us to better assess the underlying issues that lead to student success barriers so that we can intervene earlier.”

The $1.3 million award is FSU’s share of a $14 million grant from the Commonwealth’s fiscal year

2025 budget to support student success programming at Massachusetts’ nine state universities.

This is the first time that Massachusetts is extending SUCCESS funding to state universities; the funding has been available to community colleges since 2022. This type of funding contributed to a 10-percentage point increase in overall Massachusetts community college student retention from fall 2022 to fall 2023.

“To best support our students, we know that we need to help them get both to and through college,” said Governor Maura Healey. “We’ve made progress in making it more affordable for students to enroll in college, and this program will now lift barriers that arise on the way to graduation, especially for first-generation college students who cannot draw on a parent’s experience to navigate earning a degree.”

“To best support our students, we know that we need to help them get both to and through college.”

— Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey

Campus News

Framingham State Recognized as a College of Distinction

In a higher education landscape often dominated by rankings and test scores, Framingham State University has been recognized for what truly matters: a transformative undergraduate experience. For the 2025–2026 academic year, FSU has been named a College of Distinction, a prestigious designation awarded to schools whose commitment to engaged, experiential education sets them apart.

This recognition is based on Colleges of Distinction’s unique evaluating criteria known as the Four Distinctions: Engaged Students, Great Teaching, Vibrant Community and Successful Outcomes. Through extensive research and interviews, Colleges of Distinction identifies institutions that make a meaningful impact on students’ lives, not just ones that fight their way to the top of rankings lists.

In addition to being recognized for overall excellence, Framingham State was also highlighted in the following categories:

• Public Colleges

• Affordability

• Career Development

• Diversity & Inclusion

• Business

• Education