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The University of Massachusetts Amherst this week welcomes 5,300 students representing one of the academically strongest classes in the past decade.

The incoming class posted an impressive combined (optionally submitted) SAT (1386) and ACT (31.3) scores, and a grade point average (GPA) of 4.03, maintaining a trend of an average GPA of 4.0 or higher since 2021.

The university received 52,450 applications for this fall; this is the fourth consecutive year it received more than 50,000 applications for undergraduate admission.

“The strength of a UMass Amherst education is clearly attracting talented, high-achieving students from across the commonwealth, the nation, and the globe,” said Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, provost and senior vice chancellor for Academic Affairs. “It is our honor to welcome them to campus and engage with them on their educational journey. They are sure to do great things during their time with us and go on to make a tremendous impact on our world.”

The Class of 2030 ranges in age from 16 to 26. The most diverse class ever, 44% of incoming students identify as ALANA (African American, Latino/Hispanic, Asian, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and Native American) students, up from 42% last year.

Nearly 70% of the incoming class—about 3,600—are from Massachusetts. Another 1,700 students come from outside the commonwealth, including 325 students from New England and 415 international students. Overall, the class represents 42 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and 60 countries. 

The campus will also welcome 1,110 transfer students, including 335 from MassTransfer (community college programs)—whose average GPA was 3.49, the highest ever.

“I am thrilled to join our campus community in officially welcoming our new undergraduate students to UMass Amherst,” said Matt Boyce, vice provost for enrollment management. “The team has been very impressed with their achievements and talents as we have gotten to know the class through the application and admission process. We are particularly encouraged by the continued growth of our incoming transfer population as we work to strengthen pathways to UMass Amherst. I am confident they will be highly successful students and engaged community members.”

Collectively, the new students are starting in 90 different majors, including the exploratory track and pre-business/pre-engineering majors. The most popular major is biology, with 425 students. 

The overall fall undergraduate enrollment at UMass, including transfer students, is expected to be 22,800 with 72.4% being Massachusetts residents.

Commonwealth Honors College (CHC) will welcome 540 first-year students. The incoming CHC class has a 4.41 high school GPA and combined SAT (1447) and ACT scores (33.4), which are the highest in the past 10 years.

This is the 20th year that UMass Amherst has offered an Early Action (EA) admission program whereby students apply early for admission and begin receiving notification of their acceptance in mid-December. The number of students using the EA option continues to increase, with this year reaching 34,000 applications. Sixty-five percent of prospective students applied for the Class of 2030 through EA.

During the first several weeks of the semester, new students will be invited to a series of immersive activities to explore the university, its community, resources, values and expectations through social events, community building activities and leadership opportunities.