UMass’s financial aid continued a rising trend this academic year, the university reported Tuesday, increasing to $395 million.
“Keeping a UMass education world-class and affordable is our highest priority,” said UMass President Marty Meehan in a release, calling that the university’s “primary mission.”
The financial aid from the institution — as opposed to state or federal grants or loans — rose $22 million between the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years, UMass reported. The $395 million includes grants from university sources and reductions of the “sticker price” for students. Over the last decade, the total has risen $185 million.
The average cost at one of the five UMass campuses ranges between $30,000 and $32,000 as of the 2022-23 school year.
According to College Board statistics, grants from colleges across the country increased about 50% in the last decade up to 2021 and most dramatically for private four-year colleges. On average, the site says, institutional grants make up just over half of all students’ grant aid.
The UMass institutional aid nearly triples the university’s $137 in state and federal financial aid.
A 2022 Hildreth Institute report on Massachusetts’s higher education found the cost of college in the state has increased 59% in the last decade, one of the highest rates in the country, while state financial aid dropped 35% over the period, adjusted for inflation.
Most, 81%, of the UMass aid goes to Massachusetts residents, who make up 74% of the student population.
Meehan cited other efforts to address affordability at the university, including the recent Early College partnerships allowing high school students to earn degrees and cost-saving measures in the university.
He also expressed support for the initiative included in the governor’s budget proposal to lock in undergraduate in-state tuition rates for four years and legislative efforts to increase higher education funding.
“There is a growing recognition that the University of Massachusetts and the rest of public higher education in Massachusetts are absolutely critical to maintaining the Commonwealth’s competitive edge,” Meehan said.