<p>Who knows what the outcome will be, but there is a press release on his website dated October '07 suggesting his attempt to follow through on his campaign promise:</p>
<p>"Governor Patrick Proposes Historic Investment in Massachusetts Public Colleges and Universities:
Will file a 10-year, $2 billion Higher Education bond bill Wednesday"</p>
<p>I'm new here and decided to register after reading this thread. My son is an undergrad at UMass-Amherst and is having a good experience. He chose it in spite of having some other very good options. He lives in a part of campus with a quieter reputation and has made friends with quite a few serious students like himself in different disciplines (music, dance, linguistics, natural resources management). His courses are rigorous and class sizes this year are in the 20's -30's. I agree that the state has not given UMass the priority it deserves over time but thanks to its relative affordability demand is up and there are a lot of smart kids there who want to do more than just party. I hope Deval Patrick is serious about addressing the administrative problems. With a new Chancellor maybe the campus climate will improve.</p>
<p>Somebody mentioned the Abigail Adams scholarship, awarded to top kids in every HS for performance on state MCAS exams--BIG SCAM!!</p>
<p>It covers free tuition at any state college or university. Tuition is outrageously low ($1700 at UMass-Amherst, a few hundred at state colleges) but the fees are outrageous (over 5K at UM-Amherst). This way politicians could claim they were not raising tuition, but repeatedly jacking up the fees something fierce.</p>
<p>Kids are told if they work hard, free tuition awaits them--but then reality and politics kicks them in the teeth.</p>
<p>Even worse, there are kids who live in NH, just over the border, who attend public HS in MA. Some of them were awarded the Adams scholarship (letter mailed to their NH homes!), then told they could not have the scholarship AFTER they had enrolled at UMass-Lowell. Playing dirty.</p>
<p>DD is a freshman at UMass we are from NY. She loves it made a nice group
of friends. No problems with classes or professors. She is aware of the
violence I also get e-mails. I suggested some transfer applications just
to be safe. She loves it. I don't know if I should pull her out after spring
semester or see how it goes.</p>
<p>As another MA parent paying big OOS tuition at a private school, I wish that UMASS had been a better option for D. She qualified for the Adams scholarships, which although small, would have helped. But, the size of the school was the determining factor - it is simply too big. The other UMASS campuses were not an option for her.</p>
<p>toddsmom, if your daughter is happy, has friends and is doing well, why would you suggest she transfer? UMass is a big place. It clearly has problems, but if they're not affecting her I wouldn't move her. If she were unhappy or having issues with classes or professors it would be different.</p>
<p>On the other hand... I have a friend whose daughter signed up for housing for her junior year before leaving campus at the end of sophomore year. She heard nothing from UMass, so 2 weeks before fall semester started she called to get her room assignment. The response? "You don't have a room. You weren't chosen in the lottery." She had 2 weeks to find a suitable off-campus apartment. Two trips and many tears later, she found a place that was a 15 minute drive from campus. Just something to keep in mind as enrollment continues to climb.</p>
<p>That could be what's fueling some of the drinking/violence as well. It's harder to police students living off-campus, and as the number of students applying soars (thanks to ridiculous private college tuitions), I suspect the number of students forced to live off-campus will rise as well. Unless the state comes up with some money for new dorms.... ha!</p>
<p>back in my day UMASS was completely wild but so was UCONN. Though fun can still be had at UCONN, it is no longer a "party school". Perhaps the difference is the long-term investment that Connecticut has been willing to make in an effort to create a world-class university.</p>
<p>My son was accepted early action into the College of Engineering at UMASS. Since we live just 20 mintes away we are very aware of the reputation of this school. Yet we were impressed with their Engineering program. He applied to 5 Engineering schools and was admitted into all 5; he is also the recipient of an Abigail Adams Scholarship, but when all was said and done he has chosen Northeastern as his number 1 pick. He attended open houses at his accepted schools and when he came home we asked him for his impression of UMASS. His answer : " Mom UMASS is no Northeastern". So unfortunately, like many of you on this thread ,we will be paying big bucks when a perfectly good alternative sits in our backyard, done in by its reputation!</p>