Opportunities for Giving
Schools, Colleges & Programs
Ten schools and colleges are the heart of learning, teaching, and research at UMass Amherst:
You can enable rich educational experiences by investing in athletics, in the libraries, in music and art performances, and in public service opportunities:
More than 1,100 faculty members and researchers teach approximately 25,000 students from all 50 states and 100 countries. Undergraduates can choose from 87 different majors; 73 master’s and 51 doctoral programs are offered. For nearly 150 years, UMass Amherst has been a gateway to the American Dream. A quarter of the student body are the first in their families to attend college.
- Commonwealth College (Honors College)
- The honors college at UMass Amherst, Commonwealth College, offers the advantages of a small elite college together with the wide-ranging opportunities of a major research university. Begun in 1999, the college now has more than 3,000 students who pursue a quarter of their curriculum at the honors level and choose from any major on campus.
- A gift to Commonwealth College helps its students to develop enduring ties with faculty members in small, intensive classes. Your gift supports them in seeking out a challenging array of interdisciplinary seminars, honors colloquia, and community service learning courses.
- School of Education
- Students at the School of Education earn advanced degrees and become gifted teachers, astute administrators, skilled school psychologists and counselors, and pioneers and leaders in all fields of education. Faculty prepare education professionals for a changing and diverse sociopolitical world that demands discovery of new knowledge. Their research, combined with academic programs, generate influential collaborations locally, nationally, and internationally, strengthening public education and promoting social justice in education.
- Your gift to the School of Education will help create a new generation of scholars fired with a passion to bring their knowledge to succeeding generations of students. With your support, the school will continue to be a dynamic force in the field of education.
- College of Engineering
- Imagine the 20th century without the airplane, the automobile, the Apollo Program. No polio vaccine, national highway system, computers. These engineering wonders have made life better for people. At the College of Engineering, faculty and students are working on the next generation of wonders. They are helping to power tomorrow with clean, renewable energy, find a cure for cancer, detect killer tornadoes, and much more.
- By giving to the College of Engineering, you invest in students who will conceive new technologies; in faculty to teach the next generation; in comprehensive programs for a well-rounded education; and in facilities and technology that will support new discoveries.
- College of Humanities and Fine Arts
- In one of the largest colleges at UMass Amherst, students experience intellectual rigor and scope while training for a multitude of careers. The college is a place where theory and practice meet, where investigation, creativity, critical thinking, and engagement are promoted. Whether they study languages, literature, history, society, philosophy, or the arts, the College of Humanities and Fine Arts prepares its students for bright futures in the creative economy.
- Your gift to the College of Humanities and Fine Arts will support these students as they gain the preparation they need to succeed in a wide variety of careers.
- Isenberg School of Management
- To succeed, business leaders must know how to manage innovation in global markets where science and technology drive business competitiveness. They must be strategists. They must be entrepreneurs. The students who come to the Isenberg School of Management are training to become such leaders.
- Tomorrow’s business leaders require financial support today. They need scholarships, fellowships, and funding to participate in internships, overseas educational experiences, and community service learning. Equally importantly, students need to learn from nationally recognized educators and researchers. Endowed professorships will add top-flight faculty and engage students.
- College of Natural Resources and the Environment
- Food safety. Sustainable agriculture. Health and wellness. The College of Natural Resources and the Environment is addressing these and other urgent issues by educating the next generation of problem solvers and conducting influential research. The college offers nationally recognized PhD programs and outstanding undergraduate majors in such fields as animal sciences, biotechnology and biomedical sciences, food science, forest resources, and wildlife and fisheries conservation.
- Your gift to the college will enable it to strengthen and develop the endeavors of its students and faculty.
- College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
- Faculty in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics are developing new technologies for monitoring and improving water quality and reducing water use. They are working to discover new, cleaner fuels. And they are creating nanomaterials that could have a wide spectrum of applications from drug delivery to solar energy. This research informs their teaching and provides students with hands-on learning. Faculty are also leaders in scientific innovation and technological breakthroughs in the field of life sciences. The College is a partner to entrepreneurs and innovators to help them move brilliant science from laboratory to market.
- A gift to the College will help recruit and retain leading scientists, build specialized facilities, and provide financial assistance to undergraduate and graduate students.
- School of Nursing
- The School of Nursing leads in the education of nurses in an ever-changing and complex health care environment. For nearly every nursing challenge, the school is prepared with a solution—from creating advanced degree programs, to helping build the faculty of the future, to educating the next generation of nurse leaders. School of Nursing programs educate nurses for a multitude of roles in an environment that emphasizes social consciousness. They learn in Skinner Hall, a historic building in the heart of the campus that has been renovated and expanded with facilities that incorporate the latest in teaching, research, and technology.
- Your gift will influence students and the care they give patients as well as the direction of new research.
- School of Public Health and Health Sciences
- The School of Public Health and Health Sciences is a national leader in finding ways to maximize public health and quality of life. The only state-supported public health and health sciences school in New England, it is renowned for combining research and practice that go beyond the traditional academic disciplines.
- Award-winning faculty focus on many pressing public health problems as well as such cross-cutting issues such as global health, women’s health, aging, and obesity. Businesses, government agencies, and medical institutions turn to the school for timely, cost-effective research and analysis. Students have opportunities to participate in community-based internships, outreach programs, and partnerships that promote health and improved quality of life in diverse populations.
- Your gift to the School of Public Health and Health Sciences to support students, faculty, and facilities will enhance public health locally, nationally, and internationally.
- College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
- The College of Social and Behavioral Sciences prepares students to understand and improve the human condition. This is accomplished through its globally focused curriculum, programs, and research centers that offer students a world of perspectives, emphasizing educational diversity, integrated study, and community service. The College is also committed to finding ways to use technology to address social issues. It is teaching students how to formulate and promote peaceful solutions to conflict. Researchers within the college are providing families with the knowledge needed to handle complex challenges related to economics, drugs, violence, and health care.
- Your gift will help expand the college's capabilities in these and other areas that make vital contributions to society.
- Athletics
- Student-athletes excel in the classroom and develop good citizenship, character, and personal growth. UMass Amherst Athletics is a robust program that builds school spirit and pride in Massachusetts. The intercollegiate athletic program offers 23 varsity teams, including championship football, basketball, soccer, field hockey, softball, crew, and lacrosse teams. The Athletic Department’s mission is to provide the leadership, resources, and support necessary to ensure all student-athletes receive the finest academic and athletic experience possible.
- Scholarships, facilities, and other services such as academic tutoring are vital to growing our nationally competitive athletics programs at UMass Amherst. Support UMass Athletics to keep the tradition strong.
- Fine Arts Center
- The Fine Arts Center, a cultural hub for students and residents of western New England, touches lives in numerous meaningful ways. The center nurtures the student artist and exposes students to diverse forms of art. Its performing and visual arts and education programs build a powerful vehicle for communication and understanding that can shape public debate. The center’s sphere of influence is wide. Programs staged in schools in low-income neighborhoods, collaborations with academic departments, and participation in economic development ventures is transformative for children, college students, and communities.
- Give to the Fine Arts Center and help fulfill the desire for insight, knowledge, and creative expression.
- UMass Amherst Libraries
- As a gateway to knowledge, the Libraries are a key partner in teaching, learning, and research at UMass Amherst and across Massachusetts. Supporting freedom of inquiry, the Libraries foster a diverse and inclusive environment in which students can engage with ideas and acquire the critical skills necessary for lifelong learning. Among its resources are 5.8 million books, magazines, journals, maps and notable manuscripts, and 34,000 on-line journals. Major collections include the W.E.B. Du Bois papers, Silvio Conte congressional papers, UMass Amherst records, and the Pioneer Valley Labor Heritage Collection.
- Join others in supporting the largest library system at a public institution in New England and a campus center for learning.
- Outreach
- Since UMass Amherst was founded in 1863 as a land grant university, outreach has generated knowledge, shared resources, and applied research expertise to advance the public good. Teaching, research, and service beyond the borders of the campus are the hallmarks of UMass Amherst Outreach today. Outreach meets its mission through programs and services, including University Without Walls; Continuing and Professional Education; UMass Extension (part of the national Cooperative Extension System); Arts Extension Service; and radio station WFCR. The creation of University Without Walls in 1971, a bachelor’s degree program that gives nontraditional students academic credit for life experiences, is just one example of Outreach’s innovation and service to the greater community.
- Support UMass Amherst Outreach as it works every day to enrich the lives and nurture the potential of people in the community, the state, and beyond.
