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Historic college moving to Nubian Square marks a new chapter for the school — and the neighborhood
Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology is slated to open its new location in Roxbury's Nubian Square in the fall of 2025.
After over a century of being tucked away in Boston’s South End, Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology is starting a new era in a location that is poised to transform both the college and the surrounding community.
The institute broke ground on its new campus in Roxbury‘s Nubian Square on March 12. The new building will not only bring the school closer to the community it serves, its president said, but play a vital role in the development and revitalization of the Nubian neighborhood.
“We are putting a stake in the ground in Nubian Square to signal the value and viability of high-quality technical education close to home,” said Aisha Francis, president of Franklin Cummings, in a statement. “This college offers pathways into some of the Commonwealth’s most lucrative and fulfilling clean tech careers, placing economic opportunity at the community’s fingertips. We are creating a vibrant and inspiring space here at the corner of Eustis and Harrison, and the anticipation about what’s to come is contagious.”
Nubian Square — historically regarded as the Black cultural center of Boston and the commercial hub of Roxbury — has undergone widespread redevelopment efforts in recent years. The college’s relocation to the area is a significant step in the right direction, Boston Mayor Michele Wu said at the groundbreaking ceremony.
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“Franklin Cummings Tech and the City of Boston have a long history of working together to ensure community members have access to high-quality secondary education and training for fulfilling careers and lives,” Wu said. “This campus will be a major investment not only for Franklin Cummings Tech’s academic mission, but also for Nubian Square and the city.”
The school’s history
The history of Franklin Cummings Tech — previously known as Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology — dates back to a gift by its namesake made well over two centuries ago. Steel magnate Andrew Carnegie matched Benjamin Franklin’s donation in 1904 to build the college.
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Since 1908, the school has provided hands-on technical and trade education to a diverse population. A large majority of its students — 73% — are people of color, and 46% are first-generation college students.
The college was struggling just a few years ago
The school’s relocation to Nubian Square has been a decades-long process that really began taking shape in 2019, when it purchased the vacant Harrison Supply building at 1011 Harrison Ave. in Roxbury, Francis said.
But the school has faced challenges in recent years. In 2020, its enrollment plummeted with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic as less lower-income students attended universities. Even before that, the small college was facing a $5 million operating deficit and was seeking a merger with Wentworth Institute of Technology, according to reporting by GBH.
“The pandemic both slowed the pace of our relocation process, and it impacted our enrollment because a lot of the students that we serve mostly are students of color who are working to pay for their living expenses but also pay their way through college,” Francis said, adding that the school struggled to transfer its hands-on educational model to an online setting.
But the institute was able to rebound with the help of several philanthropic donations — most notably a $12.5 million gift from the Cummings Foundation in 2022.
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The multi-year donation, the largest philanthropic gift in the college’s history, kicked off a series of private and public donations to the school — including a $4 million gift by the City of Boston.
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Since then, the college’s enrollment has rebounded, and it’s been able to give staff a “much-needed raise” with the help of donor money, Francis said. Most importantly, its been able to make strides on its move to Nubian Square.
New location to benefit students, Roxbury community
The college’s current location on Berkeley Street doesn’t attract much attention — something the new campus will change, according to Francis.
“Most people don’t know that its a college. People think it’s a bank or a church,” Francis said. “The new campus has a completely different orientation. What we are building is much more translucent with glass and the way it looks and is oriented on campus.”
Franklin Cumming’s new Nubian Square campus is set to better serve the college’s main demographic. Only a few students live within a walking distance of the campus now, whereas 15% of the college’s students live in Roxbury, Francis said.
“We’re happy to be adding to the Roxbury education corridor, joining [Roxbury Community College] and other institutions of education or high schools there, and looking forward to bringing a type of education in terms of technical education that we need more of in the community,” Francis said.
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The new location will also allow the school to engage more with the broader community, Francis said, another key aspect of the move. In talks with local residents, the college has agreed to hold monthly open houses for prospective students, free “career exploration” courses for Roxbury residents, and tech fairs.
“One of the things I think is wonderful is that we are activating a site that has been blighted,” Francis said. The Harrison Supply building being replaced by the college has been vacant for years.
Construction of the new building is set to be completed in late 2025, with students beginning to attend classes in the building in fall 2025.
“This move is the culmination of a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, and really foresight from administrations prior to mine,” Francis said. “It is very much a privilege to be the person who is leading the college into the embodiment of those plans that started to take root many years ago.”
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