The following letter was written to the Massachusetts Senate by the student trustees at UMass Boston, UMass Amherst, UMass Worcester, and UMass Lowell. While Amendment EDU 337 did not pass, UMass Boston Student Trustee Alexis Marvel clarified, “That doesn’t necessarily mean we won’t get 50/50 funding.” 

We, the elected student Trustees of the UMass system, strongly urge the Massachusetts Senate to approve amendment EDU 337. This amendment would increase funding for UMass to $478 million, the amount proposed by the Governor and approved by the House, so the University can move forward with a freeze in tuition and fees during the upcoming academic year.

Affordability and student debt are serious concerns for working- and middle-class families across the Commonwealth. A tuition and fee freeze would represent real progress and send a national message of support for public universities, a skilled future workforce and a strong economy.

We are grateful that President Caret and the University leadership are seeking to strike a balance with the state to reverse a skewed funding formula. In the last decade alone, state appropriations per full-time student for UMass fell by nearly 30 percent — costs that students and their families must now bear. This is a direction that we must immediately seek to change.

This is a historic opportunity that Massachusetts must seize. It is a chance for the Commonwealth to show that it values quality public higher education and the goal of making it accessible and affordable to students regardless of their economic standing.