WORCESTER, Mass. - College campuses in the area are buzzing with excitement as more students return for the upcoming fall semester.

In Worcester, the freshman class moved in at the College of the Holy Cross Wednesday.

The class of 2028 will be joined by upperclassmen on Sunday.

And for businesses near college campuses, like Peppercorns which is in the Clark University neighborhood, they said having students back in the city means they'll see a boost.

"We definitely have increase in business once all of the Clark students return,” said Peppercorn’s manager, Keelia Harney. “They're moving in this week so we have a lot of families that are coming in as well. I would say the move-in rush is usually during lunch hours during the week for move-ins. Weekends, it’s more like the Saturday Sunday, will come in again for lunch. A big boost for us I would say is the parent's weekends. We get a lot of Clark University students, we got a lot of WPI kids as well."

Peppercorns said they also hire a lot of students to work at the restaurant during the school year.

According to a 2023 AICU Mass report, the economic impact from colleges in Central Massachusetts is nearly $4 billion and helps support nearly 20,000 jobs.