Around $300,000 in funds that UMass Dartmouth did not spend on the Star Store, its former arts campus in New Bedford, will now be directed toward assisting students impacted by the Star Store’s closure. 

Sen. Mark Montigny’s office announced Nov. 21 that the legislator secured the funding through an amendment to the state budget. According to Montigny’s office, the money was a discovery by the Inspector General’s investigation into the Star Store, which found that hundreds of thousands of dollars appropriated for the Star Store were not spent by the university in fiscal 2022 and 2023. 

The budget amendment directs that the money “shall be made available to mitigate impacts on students resulting from the closure of the” Star Store.