That's too bad, as CCSU is worth its weight in gold for a teaching degree like that. But I get that some kids won't consider CCSU because it is too close to home, or too small, too old, too uncool. It isn't for everyone. But if the STATE invested in the that university and campus as another alternative option for students, everyone would be better off.
The fact you can leave CCSU with a degree at a much lower cost than a SHU or QU, and get the same jobs as teacher, nurse, accountant, business professional, etc is a much better ROI. But like everywhere else, the costs at Central are going up, yet they have to recruit with subpar academic, support, residential, and athletic facilities. It continues the exodus of shrinking CT high school student population to outside the state.
The reasons Central has its struggles are solely due to the fact UConn has and continues to receive a outsized share of the STATE resources. The fact that no one in CGA wants to build anything that would bee seen as "competing" with UConn in even the slightest way is why there are no other options and kids will go out of state.
If Utah with the same population as CT can support a flagship university, a state university, and compete with a National private - why don't we? Utah/UConn; Utah State/Central; BYU/Yale. Many smaller states are able to support 2 major universities (Mississippi/MSU; Kansas/KSU; New Mexico/NMSU) but we can't.
Maybe the time has come to close WestConn and Eastern and just invest in Central and Southern. What is the use having 4 subpar regional universities, if we can invest and have 2 competitive comprehensive universities in 2 major cities? I'll give you a hint, the UConn administration would never support that type of legislation and would look to increase their own funding.