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About the UCard

Qualifying for a UCard

You must be an active student, employee, or qualifying NENS and have a record in both SPIRE and the UCard system. Unfortunately, University Without Wall (UWW) students taking only non-credit/lifelong learning courses do not qualify for UCards.

  • Incoming Students must pay their deposits before their information appears in the UCard System. Please note that after paying your deposit, it typically takes a business day (in rare cases, two business days) for your information to migrate to the UCard System.
  • Employees must be active and on university payroll. Please note that if you were just put on payroll, it can take 2-3 business days for your record to show up in the UCard system.
  • Sponsoring departments of Qualifying NENS (Non-Employees, Non-Students) must submit a completed NENS form to campus.  (Please note that the International Programs Office will submit NENS for International Scholars and other NENS in the United States on a visa.)

The following groups qualify for a UCard:

  • Active undergraduate students
  • Active graduate students
  • Active continuing education students taking for-credit classes
  • Active faculty
  • Active administrative staff
  • Active, qualifying NENS (non-employee, non-student)

Cost for an Initial UCard

  • Undergraduate and Graduate Students: Traditional undergraduate and graduate students pay for their initial UCard as part of their entering fees. They do not pay anything at the time they receive their initial UCards.
  • Faculty, Staff, and Qualifying NENS: UMass covers the cost of all employee and NENS UCards,. There are no costs to individual employees or NENS when they receive their initial staff UCards.

Services Associated with a UCard

The UCard is designed to be the "one card" on campus. In addition to being the official campus id, it also functions as:

  • On-campus debit card
  • Off-campus discount card (for students who purchased Student Advantage before 04/01/19)
  • Dining Services meal card
  • Residential door access card
  • Non-residential door access card
  • Five College library card
  • PVTA bus pass (for 5 College bus system only)
  • UMass recreational facilities access card
  • UMass employee time card
Caring for your UCard

The UCard is an industry standard plastic card that uses both iClass smartcard chip and magnetic stripe technologies to provide electronic services to our customers. Although the card is designed to last 4-5 years, it can fail much sooner if not properly cared for.

Avoid Physical Damage

The easiest way to damage the card is to abuse it physically. To avoid this problem, we strongly suggest that you:

  • Always store your UCard in the protective sleeve the UCard Office gave you. If you have torn or lost your sleeve, go to the UCard Office and request a new one.
  • Avoid storing your UCard in a location or manner that will result in bending or scratching the card. For example, you should avoid storing your UCard with credit cards with raised numbers.
  • Never punch holes in your UCard. There is also a chip and antenna embedded in the card.  Damaging either of those will make your card unable to tap. Punching a hole through the magnetic stripe will make your card unable to swipe.  Holes will also damage the structural integrity of the card and will quickly lead to cracked and broken cards.  If you wish to put your card on a lanyard, the University Store sells some that don't require a hole in the card.
  • Do not expose the card to extreme temperatures. Avoid having your UCard go through a washing machine or dryer. Also, do not use the UCard as an ice scraper! It will crack.

Avoid Electronic Damage

Electronic information is encoded in both the iClass chip and the Magnetic Stripe on the card. This encoding can be damaged by exposure to strong electrical or magnetic fields, so you should avoid storing or exposing your cards to cell phones, computers, appliances, or other electronic or magnetic devices.

If you have weakened or otherwise damaged the magnetic encoding on your UCard, you will need to purchase a replacement card. We cannot re-encode the card.