UMass students concerned about planned fee hikes
University of Massachusetts students expressed disappointment on Wednesday as UMass trustees advanced a proposal raising the cost of attending any of the system's four undergraduate campuses.
The administration and finance committee of the UMass Board of Trustees voted to recommend upping tuition and fees for in-state undergraduates next school year. Under a full 5 percent increase in tuition and mandatory curriculum fees, students' costs would swell between $552 to $580, depending on their campus of choice.
The tuition and fee increase, which could end up being below 5 percent, will be based on what the UMass system receives from the state in the final fiscal 2016 budget, university officials said.
The committee also approved a $250 "technology fee" that would be directed toward technology infrastructure costs. Most peer institutions charge between $75 and $445, according to UMass.
Added with other charges, the total package approved by the committee calls for overall tuition and mandatory fees to rise by more than 5 percent, climbing up to 6 percent at the Boston campus and up to 7.9 percent at the Lowell campus. Twenty percent of the revenue from the mandatory curriculum fees will be funneled toward student financial aid, officials said.
According to the university, the total tuition and student fees for in-state undergraduates in fiscal year 2016 could rise to $14,171 at UMass Amherst, the flagship campus, up from $13,258 in fiscal year 2015. For UMass Boston, the total could rise to $12,682, up from $11,966.
At UMass Dartmouth, the figure would come to $12,588, an increase from $11,681, and $13,427 at UMass Lowell, up from $12,447.
Zac Bears, who just graduated from UMass Amherst, attended the administration and finance committee meeting and said state officials should provide more aid to the UMass system.
"I'd like to see the trustees push the Legislature a little harder," said Bears, who is from Medford. "We're just not getting enough support."
Charlotte Kelly, a senior at UMass Amherst who also attended the meeting, questioned the need for the increases in light of growth in university revenues, net assets and in the university endowment.
The students also opposed the $250 "technology fee," and said the costs will be adding to students' debt burdens, hurting their ability to donate back to the school as alumni.
The proposed fiscal 2016 operating budget for UMass totals $3.1 billion.
"The fees are going up for a lot of reasons," said Victor Woolridge, chair of the board of trustees after the committee vote. "We have increased expenses. They are natural increases in utilities and other kinds of health-related expenses, certainly personnel costs, and obviously our student aid."
The university system, which has five campuses, including the medical school in Worcester, has 73,000 students. The number of UMass graduates living and working in Massachusetts is pegged at 278,000.
Woolridge pointed to a "pretty significant gap" between what UMass asked for from the state and what has been proposed by the governor, House and Senate. The system asked for $578 million in fiscal 2016.
The House proposed $519 million in its budget and the Senate approved $538 million; a team of House and Senate lawmakers is negotiating a compromise budget to send to Gov. Charlie Baker. The governor, while seeking to close a structural state budget deficit, had proposed $526 million for the university system, $7.7 million more than what the university received in fiscal year 2015.
The full UMass board of trustees will vote on the fee and tuition hike proposal on June 17 in Amherst.
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