Thursday, 4:30 PM
UMass tuition $303 higher this fall
By James Vaznis, Globe Staff
WORCESTER -- The price tag for one school year at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst will rise to $17,399 next fall, a 32 percent increase from four years ago.
The school's board of trustees today approved a 3.4 percent jump in tuition and fees in the University of Massachusetts system for the 2007-2008 academic year.
Next school year's tuition and fees at Amherst will be $9,921, a 3.4 percent or $326 increase. The average tuition and fees, excluding room and board, across the system will be $9,221, which is $303 more than this year.
The increase was recommended by Jack M. Wilson, the UMass president, who said it's the fourth straight year that increases were kept at or below the rate of inflation.
Stephen Tocco, chairman of the UMass Board of Trustees, said the increase is "fair and modest."
UMass officials have said that students at UMass-Amherst are getting a better deal than their peers at other public flagship campuses in New England. For in-state students, next year's price tag at the University of New Hampshire could hit $18,500, a 26 percent increase from five years ago; at the University of Rhode Island, $17,691, a 30 percent increase; and the University of Connecticut, $17,500, a 28 percent increase, according to data collected by UMass.
Regardless, the increases have raised concerns about whether a public education is becoming too costly for many Bay State high school graduates. Student leaders at Amherst say the cost is forcing students to work two or three jobs, take out loans with high interest rates, or put more college costs, such as textbooks, on their credit cards.
Students at UMass-Dartmouth will pay $17,755 next year for tuition, fees and room and board, an increase of $553 or 3.2 percent. Students at the Dartmouth campus pay about $400 more than those in Amherst. In Lowell, the proposed rate is $15,709, a $745 increase or 5 percent more. At the Boston campus, which has no dormitories, the rate could be $8,837, a $291 or 3.4 percent increase.
UMass officials say the increases are largely the consequence of a reduction in state aid. The system this year received approximately $443 million in aid, about $100 million less than in 2000. The Legislature is considering a bill that would provide public higher education with millions of dollars more for financial aid, building construction, and other costs in the coming years.
But Tocco said he doubts the system will receive a windfall next year because of a state revenue shortfall.
Material from the Associated Press was included in this report.
