How college graduations impact Hampshire County economy

AMHERST, Mass. (WWLP) – It’s a packed weekend for graduates and their families, which means the roads, hotels, and restaurants are likely to be packed too.

As finals wrap up, students kick back and look ahead to graduation. The UMass undergraduate ceremony takes place on Saturday, but move-out and other graduation activities are expected to impact traffic from Thursday through Sunday. That may present some headaches for drivers, but area businesses benefit from the boom in visitors.

“Hopefully plan to go to dinner afterward if all the restaurants aren’t too filled up, we’ll try to make a reservation,” said UMass senior Joshua Smith.

Some have family coming from out of state, which is welcome news for the hospitality industry.

“We booked hotels early on, and they’ll get here before the craziness,” remarked Caleb Zylka, a UMass senior.

Students at UMass Amherst say they’re looking forward to having the graduation ceremony that they missed out on when they were graduating high school in 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Mine was like a drive-through where others didn’t even have it at all. So it’s really exciting right now that we actually get to celebrate,” said Anthony, another UMass senior. “Yeah, we didn’t get this my senior year of high school so it’s weird now like going through all the senior stuff in college. It’s kind of like my first time experiencing this. I’m thankful for the time here, it’s been a blessing.”

Graduate commencement will be held on Friday at 10 a.m. and undergraduate takes place Saturday at 10 a.m., each at McGuirk Alumni Stadium.

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Kaelee Collins is a reporter who has been a part of the 22News team since 2022. Follow Kaelee on X @kaelee_collins and view her bio to see more of her work.

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