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Study Challenges UMass Growth In Spending, Non-resident Students

An aerial view of the UMass Amherst campus
Wikipedia

A conservative-leaning think tank and the University of Massachusetts clashed this week over admissions policy and capital expenses at the state’s land-grant public university system.

    The Pioneer Institute issued a report critical of UMass for admitting too many out-of-state students and undertaking a building boom on the five campuses that it warns may be financially unsustainable.  UMass shot back, calling the institute’s conclusions “deeply flawed and substantially unsound.”

The study said there has been an 85 percent increase in out-of-state student enrollment at UMass since 2008.  Greg Sullivan, the research director at the Pioneer Institute, said it is a deliberate strategy to raise more revenue because out-of-state students pay roughly double the tuition charged to Massachusetts residents.

"This policy is crowding out high performing high school students in Massachusetts, whose seats are being taken by out-of-state students," he said.

Last year, UMass Amherst, for the first time, offered more spots in its freshman class to out-of-state students than Massachusetts high school graduates, although a large number of the out-of-state students did not accept the admissions offer.   The report calls for a “hard conversation” about the role of UMass as a public institution.

" We are recommending that the legislature and the board of trustees at UMass put a cap on out-of-state admissions at the current level," said Sullivan.

The rise in out-of-state and international students attending state university flagship campuses is a national trend, according to the institute’s report.  The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and the University of California Berkley are among the schools that have imposed caps on out-of-state students, according to the report.

Umass Amherst spokesman Ed Blaguszewski said the report’s assertion that out-of-state students are crowding out Massachusetts residents is wrong.  He said 76 percent of the undergraduate students at the flagship campus are Massachusetts residents, and in-state enrollment has grown by more than 1,000 students in the last decade.

" So, we are educating more Massachusetts residents today than we ever have," he said.

Blaguszewski said the higher tuition paid by out-of-state students helps to subsidize the education of Massachusetts residents. Also, he argues students who come from other states and other countries to Massachusetts enrich the educational environment and bring other benefits.

"At a time when the number of high school graduates of traditional age is declining, to bring young people to Massachusetts where they will study and potentially stay and add to the vibrancy of our economy I think is a good thing," said Blaguszewski.

The Pioneer Institute report also criticized the university’s five-year capital plan that calls for spending nearly $7 billion on new buildings, additions and renovations. 

" We question whether it is affordable, just like many people question whether the ( MBTA) expansion is affordable," said Sullivan. " The UMass expansion is an anomaly. They've expanded more than other public colleges in New England and more than other private colleges in Massachusetts."

Sullivan said future capital planning decisions at the university should not be made without input from the state legislature.

Blaguszewski said UMass has taken on almost $2.9 billion in debt reluctantly, but he said modern buildings are needed to fulfill the university’s mission.

"And often that does not involve reparing buildings that are 50-75 years old, or older. Sometime it means totally new construction or major renovations to serve the students," he said.

The institute’s report was issued as the Massachusetts legislature is getting set to craft a final state budget that will include funding for the UMass system.  Also, the university trustees meet next month and may consider raising student tuition and fees.

The record-setting tenure of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. The 2011 tornado and its recovery that remade the largest city in Western Massachusetts. The fallout from the deadly COVID outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. Those are just a few of the thousands and thousands of stories WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill has covered for WAMC in his nearly 17 years with the station.
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