Image
Undergraduate Admissions
Points of Pride
The University of Massachusetts Amherst ranks #32 among public universities nationally.
Top 200
One of the top 200 best values in colleges nationwide
Princeton Review, 2022
Best of the Best
LGBTQ-Friendly Colleges & Universities
Campus Pride, 2023
Top 20
Top 20 student of color enrollment for public flagship universities
Top 6
UMass Amherst’s four-year graduation rate of 76% ranks in the Top 6 nationally among public universities.
Campus Highlights
UMass Amherst is the flagship public university in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, making a profound, transformative impact to the common good. Founded in 1863, we are the largest public research university in New England, distinguished by the excellence and breadth of our academic, research, and community outreach programs.
Recent Accomplishments
UMass Amherst is recognized worldwide for its welcoming campus, top-ranked academic programs, and accomplished students and professors. We've also got amazing food and an unmatched commitment to sustainability.
Campus Pride, a leading national organization dedicated to building future LGBTQ and ally leaders and creating safer communities within higher education, ranked UMass Amherst in the top 30 out of 230 colleges and universities nationwide.
UMass Amherst students had a 74.7% voting participation rate, compared to 54.4% in the 2016 presidential election.
Excelling Academically
With more than 100 undergraduate majors residing in 10 schools and colleges, UMass Amherst has a program for everyone.
Recent academic achievements:
UMass Amherst ranks No. 65 nationally and 159th worldwide according to the 2019-20 evaluation of higher education institutions by the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR).
Undergraduate programs in the Isenberg School of Management and the College of Engineering at UMass Amherst advanced in the latest national rankings released Sept. 10 by U.S. News & World Report.
Online bachelor’s degree programs at UMass Amherst rank 19th nationally, according to a survey released by U.S. News & World Report, which also listed the university 11th for online baccalaureate programs for veterans.
The 2020 Best Global Universities guide published by U.S. News and World Report ranks UMass Amherst No. 4 in the comprehensive subject area of Agricultural Sciences. The rankings consider the top 1,500 universities across 81 countries.
The linguistics department at the UMass Amherst ranks second worldwide in the 2021 QS World University Rankings by Subject. This is the fourth year UMass Amherst has held the number two spot, behind only MIT.
U.S. News & World Report recently released their 2022-23 Global Universities and global subject rankings and two UMass programs earned top marks: food science and technology placed at No. 3 and agriculture at No. 5.
Discovering Knowledge
In addition to research through courses, students can also work in faculty labs and participate in research and scholarly opportunities on and off campus throughout the year.
Recent research breakthroughs:
UMass Amherst was among the higher ed institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs for having produced the most Gilman Scholarship recipients over the past 20 years in the Large Institution category.
Ten researchers at UMass have been recognized for being among the world’s most highly cited researchers in 2019 by London-based Clarivate Analytics, owner of the “Web of Science.”
Eating Well
The largest collegiate dining program in the country, UMass Dining emphasizes locally sourced foods while delivering healthy, sustainable, delicious, diverse and authentic culinary experiences.
Highlights from UMass Dining:
UMass Amherst Earns No. 1 Spot for Seventh Time in Best Campus Food Rankings By The Princeton Review
The Princeton Review rankings are derived from student reports of their experiences at the schools in its annual “Best Colleges” guidebook. The 2024 rankings are based on feedback from 165,000 students at the schools in the guide.
In its inaugural “Great Campus Food” list, The Princeton Review has named the University of Massachusetts Amherst to the exclusive group in its 2022 edition of The Best 387 Colleges.
The university is No. 24 on a newly released list of vegan-friendly institutions compiled by Rent CollegePads.com, a Milwaukee-based company that helps students find off-campus housing. The rankings were created by crunching data from a combination of previous national lists, the number of vegan restaurants in the surrounding area, as well as SEO data from student searches.
Leading in Sustainability
The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education and the Princeton Review rank us among the top research universities nationwide for our commitment to leadership in sustainability, including our goal to be Carbon Zero by 2032.
Campus sustainability highlights:
UMass Amherst last week unveiled UMass Carbon Zero — an ambitious vision to limit the dangers of climate change and power the commonwealth’s 1,500-acre flagship campus with 100% renewable energy by approximately 2032.
UMass, which ranked 18 out of 328, is among those that “have displayed a deep and thorough commitment to addressing climate change, protecting the natural world and encouraging environmental responsibility both through their campus operations and course curricula,” according to “Sierra Magazine.”
A national program that measures accomplishments in sustainability in higher education has once again placed UMass Amherst as one of the most sustainable campuses in North America. The “gold” rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s (AASHE) Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS) program recognizes sustainability accomplishments in areas such as academics, research, engagement, operations and administration.
UMass Amherst continues to be among the nation’s most environmentally responsible higher educational institutions, according to The Princeton Review’s 2023 Guide to Green Colleges.
UMass Amherst has been designated as a Bike Friendly University (BFU) by the League of American Bicyclists, a grassroots advocacy organization encouraging better bicycling and protecting the rights of people who bike.
Winning Titles
Athletics are a big part of life at UMass! Join recreational intramural sports teams, competitive club sports, or cheer on the Minutemen and Minutewomen as they compete in Division I games.
Recent athletic achievements:
University of Massachusetts hockey controlled play from start to finish and rolled to a 5-0 shutout of St. Cloud State to capture the 2021 Division I Men's Hockey NCAA Championship last Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena, the first in program history. The Minutemen finished the season with a 20-5-4 record, the fewest losses for an NCAA Champion since Maine's 40-1-2 season in 1992-93.
Making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1998, UMass fell, 89-78, to No. 5 seed Notre Dame in the First Round, closing out the most successful season in the program’s 54-year history.
The Minutemen will open the 2022 NCAA Division I Men's Hockey Championship by facing No. 2 seed Minnesota in the Regional Semifinal at Worcester's DCU Center Friday, March, 25 at 6 p.m.