UMass president said families are recognzing the system's value
This is an updated version of a story posted at 12:56 this afternoon..
AMHERST - Enrollment at the University of Massachusetts five-campus system is at a record level 70,874 students, a record level for the five-campus system, according to President Robert L. Caret’s office.
Caret presented the figures to the UMass Board of Trustees at its meeting Wednesday in Worcester.
Robert L. CaretThe new enrollment figure represents a 1,204 student or two percent increase over the last year’s enrollment level.
Enrollment at the five-campus UMass system has risen steadily over the past five years, rising from 61,034 to 70,874– an increase of 16 percent, according to the release.
In Amherst, the undergraduate numbers expected to be about 20,400, are actually down by 162 students following nine straight years of growth, to better match faculty and facility to the size of the student body, spokesman Edward F. Blaguszewski said earlier this year.
But, he said Wednesday, overall numbers on continue to rise each year. That includes graduate students, those taking online classes and others enrolled.
This year’s first year class has decreased about 3 percent, or 125 students from the previous year, a reduction that was planned, he said.
“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,” Caret said in a prepared statement.
He cited the Amherst campus welcoming 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.
The SAT scores are up by seven points over last year and the high school grade point average has increased from 3.64 to 3.66.