|
Bulger recommends freeze in Chronicle staff 
resident William M. Bulger this week recommended to the Board of Trustees that student charges for in-state undergraduate students remain frozen during the upcoming academic year (2001-2002). This would mean that tuition and fees will have declined by 6 percent over the past six years. Inflation during the same period is pegged at 16 percent. Under Bulger's proposal, in-state undergraduates at the Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth and Lowell campuses will pay a weighted average of $4,679 in tuition and mandatory fees. This marks the sixth year in a row that the average student charge has either decreased or remained the same. Between academic years 1995-96 and 2001-02, the average student charge will have dropped from $4,969 to $4,679 - a decrease of $290 or nearly 6 percent. Bulger said the University is striving to remain affordable. "We take very seriously the idea of making a University of Massachusetts education as affordable as it possibly can be," he said. "Talented, hard-working students should have access to top-quality higher education. "While the cost of higher education continues to spiral upward at many other institutions, the University of Massachusetts is holding the line and is making sure that students and families across the commonwealth have an affordable, high-quality alternative." Under the proposal, undergraduate tuition-and-fee charges at the campuses will be: Amherst, $5,212; Boston, $4,222; Dartmouth, $4,129; and Lowell, $4,255. The proposed rates are subject to Board of Trustees approval, and were scheduled to be reviewed by its Administration and Finance Committee on Jan. 25 and would then be considered at the Feb. 7 meeting of the full board. |
