AMHERST, Mass. (WWLP) – The University of Massachusetts announces tuition will be increasing in the next academic year.

The University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees voted to increase tuition, along with room and board fees. The board voted to increase tuition for in-state undergrads by a little more than two percent, while increasing the cost of room and board at Umass Amherst by more than four percent.

According to a statement sent to 22News from the president’s office, “Keeping a world class UMass education affordable and accessible is our top priority. The university has kept any tuition adjustments for in-state undergraduates well below inflation for several years in a row, including multiple years when tuition has been frozen.”

Amherst in-state undergraduate tuition (prior to financial aid being applied), will go from $16,186 this year to $16,591 for the upcoming academic year. On a per student basis University-generated aid has grown almost three times as fast as net tuition & fee revenue since 2019, 81% of University-generated aid goes to in-state students, which is well above their 73% share of total enrollment.

The average annual net price of $20,343 (after grant aid) at UMass is two thirds of the average Massachusetts private institution net price. UMass strategy has held average student debt at graduation relatively flat for a decade at $29,939, a real decline in debt in inflation-adjusted dollars.