working in a part-time job with ongoing mentor support. The program's declining tuition rate offers $22,000 in cost savings before financial aid is applied (as of 2019 rates). Solstice Low-Residency MFA Program In 2022, Lasell acquired the Solstice Low-Residency MFA Program from Pine Manor College, where it had been hosted since 2006. Solstice is four-semester Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing. In the low-residency format, students complete five 10-day, on-campus residencies and four semesters in which they work with their faculty mentors remotely from their homes. Residencies occur in January and July and start the spring and fall semesters, respectively. Solstice students may concentrate in fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, comics & graphic narratives, or writing for children and young adults. Campus The Lasell campus covers roughly in the Newton, Massachusetts, village of Auburndale, adjacent to the Lasell Neighborhood Historic District. There are approximately 58 buildings, 27 of which are student dormitories. Dormitories include 33 Victorian-era homes (built between 1837 and 1901), suite-style residence halls, and contemporary quad-style halls. The college opened its Science and Technology Center (STC) in the fall of 2017. It covers of space and includes seven labs designed for anatomy and physiology, chemistry, physics, exercise science, and math. Lasell's campus includes a day-care facility (the Barn), Rockwell Preschool, and Lasell Village, a senior living community focused on lifelong learning designated as an Age-Friendly University (AFU). The campus is located about half a mile from the Auburndale Commuter Rail station on the Framingham/Worcester Line, and about one mile away from the Riverside MBTA Station on the Green Line's D train, which takes commuters into the downtown Boston area. A shuttle runs regularly between the campus and Riverside Station. Student life Of the 1,600 students who attend Lasell, 73% live on campus, 40% come from out-of-state (undergraduate students), and 22% are students of color. Roughly 36% of students at Lasell are male. Athletics Lasell University is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III athletics. The Lasell Lasers compete as members of Eastern College Athletic Conference, the North Atlantic Conference, and the Great Northeast Athletic Conferences in baseball, basketball, volleyball, soccer, cross-country, field hockey, softball, lacrosse, and track and field as inter varsity sports. In 2009, a mascot was introduced: Boomer the Torchbearer, named for the industrialists who sponsored Lasell's founding. Additionally, the school has a popular women's and men's rugby club, and has intramural