BOSTON (AP) – The University of Massachusetts, under financial pressure because of high inflation and other expected cost increases, is raising tuition across the board this fall for the first time in three years.
Trustees on April 13 voted to increase in-state, undergraduate tuition by 2.5% for the 2022-2023 academic year, which would add $395 to the bill of a student at the flagship Amherst campus, and slightly less at the Boston, Dartmouth and Lowell campuses, the system announced.
Out-of-state undergraduates face the same increases, except at Amherst where they face a 3% hike. Room and board costs are also rising by up to 3.9%.
According to the trustees’ April 13 vote document, UMass Dartmouth’s in-state undergraduate tuition and fees will increase by $446 to $14,858. The regional rate, which is for Rhode Island residents, will rise from $19,556 this past academic year to $20,130. The out-of-state undergraduate will go up by $839 to $30,992.
For graduate students, each rate will go up by $100. Tuition bills for next year will be $17,065 for in-state graduates; $21,560 for regional graduates; and $30,253 for out-of-state graduates.
At the University of Massachusetts School of Law, in-state students next year will pay $30,175, an increase of $664. Regional students – those who reside in Rhode Island and Vermont – will see their bills next year go up by $738 to $32,175. The out-of-state law school tuition next year will be $39,275, rising by $856.
The system had not raised tuition during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These student charge adjustments are necessary to sustain the academic excellence at each UMass campus, and provide students with the facilities and services they need and deserve,” the system said in a statement. “They follow two years of tuition freezes, remain far below the rate of inflation, and do not reflect the record-breaking grant aid ($373 million this year) that the university provides students.”
Graduate student tuition is also on the rise, except at the Dartmouth campus where no increases are planned.
Tuition at the system’s UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester is also going up 2.5%, while tuition at UMass Law is jumping by as much as 2.9%.
The university said it is facing projected inflation of 8.5%, an increased fringe benefit assessment, and mental health and COVID-19 service expansions.
The university has about 75,000 students across five campuses
(This story also includes reports from Providence Business News.)
