BOSTON – A 3.1-percent increase in tuition and fees for the University of Massachusetts system was tentatively approved today by the finance panel of the UMass board of trustees and will go before the full board when it meets in Dartmouth March 19, the university said.
Under the proposal, in-state undergraduates would see the average cost of tuition and fees rise to $9,549 in the 2008-2009 academic year, from the current four-campus average of $9,261, the university said. Tuition and fees for students at the UMass Medical School in Worcester would rise 1.1 percent to $14,087.
At UMass-Dartmouth, total proposed costs including room and board would rise to $18,286 per year for Massachusetts residents and $27,989 for non-residents.
“For the fifth year in a row, we would keep our student charge increase below the rate of inflation,” added UMass President Jack M. Wilson, which was 3.6 percent in the most recent quarter, based on the federal government’s Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Northeast Region. (READ MORE)
Over the past five years, tuition and fee increases at public universities nationwide have averaged about 6.9 percent per year while increases at UMass have averaged 3.4 percent, the university said. “Our top priority is to keep academic excellence affordable for UMass students by containing costs,” Wilson said.
To that end, he said, the university would direct 20 percent of the new revenue to providing additional financial aid to students with the greatest need. The money also would be used to hire new faculty, retain existing faculty and staff, finance capital projects and defray rising energy and utility bills, he said.
“Our policies continue to allow us to provide an exceptional educational experience to our students,” Wilson said. “We are committed to making sure that UMass students continue to have access to world-class education.”
To learn more about the University of Massachusetts and its programs, visit www.massachusetts.edu.
