President Meehan announces $311 million in institutional aid for the 2016-17 academic year
BOSTON - The University of Massachusetts will spend a record $311 million on student financial aid during the current academic year, President Marty Meehan announced today.
"Maintaining affordability is one of our highest priorities," President Meehan said. "Affordability and accessibility factor into every decision we make."
Prioritizing funds for student scholarships is part of a multi-pronged affordability effort at UMass. Other initiatives include saving $300 million over the next 10 years through an efficiency and effectiveness program, maintaining affordable pathways to a UMass degree through community colleges partnerships, and making financial literacy resources available to all UMass, state university, community college and high schools students in Massachusetts.
But increasing funding for student financial aid programs - almost all in the form of grants and scholarships - has the most immediate and dramatic impact on what students pay to attend UMass.
"The enrollment surge that UMass has experienced over the past decade is due to students and families recognizing that the University of Massachusetts is their best choice in terms of quality and affordability," said President Meehan.
According to a financial aid report presented to the UMass Board of Trustees this month, UMass funding for student financial aid during the 2016-17 academic year is projected to rise to $311 million, up from $260 million in 2015-2016. A portion of the increase results from tuition credits for students being included in institutional aid following the university's implementation of tuition retention, but even if the previous classifications were still employed, the figure for the current academic year would be $278 million, up $18 million over last year and more than 245 percent since the 2006-2007 academic year, when funding was $80.5 million.
Across the five-campus system, UMass students are expected to receive $885 million in total financial aid this year, a figure that includes scholarships, grants and loans from all sources, public and private.
To learn more about the university's commitment to affordability, visit the Institutional Aid page.