University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Amherst, MA374 Whitmore Building 181 Presidents Drive, Amherst, MA 01003
413-545-0111
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States, and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system. The university offers bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and doctorates, and is categorized as an R1 Doctoral University in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.UMass Amherst has an annual enrollment of approximately 30,000 students. The university is ranked as the 26th best public university in the United States by U.S. News & World Report in 2020, and is ranked 56th among all public, national universities in the country. It is also considered a "Public Ivy", meaning that it is one of nine universities in the United States that function as both public and private institutions of higher learning.
Founded in 1863 as the Massachusetts Agricultural College, the university was created to teach the scientific principles of agriculture to students from across the Commonwealth. The university was originally located on about 1,200 acres (490 ha) of land donated by the town of Amherst and the campus began to expand rapidly. In 1904, the college changed its name to the University of Massachusetts, in recognition of the growing scope of its programs and research. In 1947, the university was designated as a land-grant university by the United States Congress and renamed the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
UMass Amherst is categorized as a "very high research activity" university by the Carnegie Foundation, with research expenditures exceeding $200 million annually. The university's faculty and alumni include nine Nobel Laureates, 22 Pulitzer Prize winners, 29 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 16 members of the National Academy of Engineering, and 79 Fulbright Scholars. UMass Amherst sports teams are called the Minutemen and Minutewomen, and compete in NCAA Division I as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference.
The university is located on 1,455 acres (587 ha) of land in the scenic Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, bordered by the cities of Amherst and Hadley to the north, Easthampton to the south, and Northampton to the east. The campus is situated within the Connecticut River Valley, with the majority of the campus being located on the north side of the river. The campus is bisected by a set of railroad tracks owned by CSX Transportation, which runs through the center of campus on an east-west axis.
The university is organized into 11 schools and colleges, which together offer 108 undergraduate programs, 77 master's degree programs, and 48 doctoral programs. The University of Massachusetts Amherst is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system, which also includes campuses in Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and Worcester. The Amherst campus is the largest of the five campuses, with an enrollment of over 22,000 students.
Quick Facts
Enrollment: 31642
Acceptance Rate: 65.32%
Type: Public, 4-year or above
Main Website: https://www.umass.edu/
Financial Aid: https://www.umass.edu/umfa/
Annual Costs
Total Cost In-State On-Campus: $32168
Total Cost Out-State On-Campus: $52156
Return on Investment Rating
The estimated cost for four years as an undergraduate at University of Massachusetts-Amherst is $124872.44. This includes the average cost of attendance for four years plus the interest on the average loan over a ten year repayment minus the average of grants and scholarships per student.
We then contrast this figure with average early-career and mid-career average incomes of graduates of four year programs at University of Massachusetts-Amherst. For graduates of University of Massachusetts-Amherst, we saw an average early-career income of $49000.00 and mid-career income of $69200.00. We then ranked the school's value based on how many years of mid-career income it takes to repay the educational costs.