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Student enrollment at UMass rises to record level

Applications also increase based on recognition of quality and affordability, campuses enjoying success and acclaim

WORCESTER - Enrollment at the University of Massachusetts has reached 70,874 students, a record level for the five-campus system, President Robert L. Caret announced today.

The new enrollment figure represents a 1,204 student or two percent increase over the University's Fall 2011 enrollment level.

President Caret announced the Fall 2012 enrollment figure, which is based on information gathered as the academic year was about to begin, as the UMass Trustees met in Worcester.

"Families across the Commonwealth recognize that UMass provides top-quality academic programs at a cost that is significantly lower than you would face at a private university. In many cases, we trump the private schools in the two key areas: quality and affordability," President Caret said.

Enrollment at the five-campus UMass system has risen steadily over the past five years, rising from 61,034 students in Fall 2007 to the current 70,874 headcount enrollment figure - an increase of 16 percent. Over the past decade, student enrollment in the UMass system is up by nearly 13,000 students.

Four of the campuses in the UMass system admit undergraduate students and those four campuses received 68,392 applications from prospective undergraduate students, a 5.7 percent increase over the previous year.

"We are pleased to see this steady increase in demand," President Caret said. "Adding nearly 13,000 students over the course of a decade is a significant accomplishment and demonstrates that students and families see UMass as the path to a better and brighter future. We are committed to providing the quality and excellence that people are seeking and are finding at UMass."

As the new academic year began, all five campuses in the UMass system were on the move:

• UMass Amherst welcomed its most academically accomplished first-year class, enrolling students with a high school grade point average of 3.66 and SAT scores of 1196. On average, students ranked in the top fifth of their high school class.
• UMass Boston was named as one of the best colleges in the Northeast by The Princeton Review.
• UMass Dartmouth was again rated as the top public regional university in New England, according to U.S. News & World Report rankings.
• UMass Lowell was named a top-tier national university by U.S. News & World Report for the third consecutive year, climbing seven spots in this year's ranking. Enrollment topped 16,000 students for the first time and first-year students arrived with the highest average SAT scores and high-school GPA in UMass Lowell's history.
• UMass Medical School was ranked seventh in the nation in primary care education this year by U.S. News & World Report. UMMS has been listed near the top of the category since 1994, when the magazine began publishing its influential rankings.

In other business, the UMass Trustees approved a $3.1 billion capital plan for Fiscal Years 2013-2017 that will guide the University's new construction and renovation activities during this five-year period.

Contact: Robert P. Connolly, 617-287-7073; Ann Scales, 617-287-4084

9/19/12

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