A plan which allows for classroom and technology upgrades while reducing tuition and fees for a fourth year in a row was announced by University of Massachusetts President William M. Bulger on February 26. The plan satisfied the desire of the Board of Trustees to improve educational infrastructure on UMass campuses, and Governor Paul Cellucci's wish to see tuition and fees continue to become more affordable for students.
"The University of Massachusetts seeks to provide affordable
excellence. I am happy to report that we are becoming even more
affordable while our academic excellence continues to grow," said
President Bulger. "This plan gives our students the classroom and
technology tools they require, and a fourth consecutive tuition and
fee reduction." According to Board of Trustees Chair Robert Karam,
enhancing educational opportunities was the board's paramount
concern.
"Those who care deeply about public education have achieved their
goals," said Karam. "Governor Cellucci wants to reduce student
charges, and that is happening. The Unversity is determined to
provide its students with the necessary tools, and that will happen."
Karam added that the fee revenue will help pay for new classrooms,
new computers, improvements to buildings, new campus centers in
Boston and Lowell, and the fiber-optic wiring of the campus system.
At the Boston campus, tuition and mandatory fees for an in-state,
undergraduate student for the academic year 1999-2000 were originally
proposed to be $4,317, a slight increase over last year. Under the
revised agreement, tuition and mandatory fees will be $4,222, a
decrease of $95.