<p>I thought this might be helpful to some Massachusetts students:
Comm</a>. college grads get free ride at UMass-Lowell - Boston.com</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing that Megmno. I wish more schools, states had that. That and the shoring up of ccs so that the transition is easier.</p>
<p>Well this is Mass so it’s not as great a deal as it seems. Annual tuition to UMass-Lowell is $1464, annual fees $8,968. This program would only cover tuition. </p>
<p>I think it’s a misleading sales job to tell students “free tuition” when in fact it’s only a 14% discount off tuition and fees. I’m just fed up with scams everywhere.</p>
<p>It’s not tuition AND fees? That is a scam, given the amount of fees. That is ridiculously high. Fees should not exceed tui tion, and should be capped at a given percentage of tuition so that this sort of deception cannot be used for PR.</p>
<p>Mass also has this “Adams Scholarship” where they pitch to HS students that if they do well on MCAS tests (standardized progress tests in mass) they’ll get to go to college tuition free (at a UMass campus). How many kids are disappointed to find out come college admissions time that this only means a discount of less than 10% off total COA (tuition, fees, and R&B). This is why UMass tuition is so low and fess are so high. They ought to be embarrassed to be promoting this scam. They should just offer a $1500/yr scholarship for this award, that would be more clear.</p>
<p>The John and Abigail Adams Scholarship</p>
<p>This program is administered by the Massachusetts Board of Education for students who are graduating from Massachusetts high schools in 2009. In order to receive this scholarship and apply it to the cost of attending UMass Amherst, students must submit a copy of their scholarship letter to the UMass Amherst Financial Aid Office and must also have filed a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form.</p>
<p>Scholarship awards are based on the grade 10 English and Mathematics MCAS results:</p>
<p>• score in the Advanced category in either the Mathematics or the English language arts section of the grade 10 MCAS test;</p>
<p>• score in the Proficient or Advanced category on the second subject (Mathematics or English language arts); and</p>
<p>• have a combined score on these assessments that ranks in the top 25% in their school district.</p>
<p>This scholarship is a tuition waiver. It does not cover fees, room, or board expenses. Students may not use more than one tuition waiver toward their cost of attendance. The tuition waiver will be extended for a total of eight consecutive semesters, as long as the student is enrolled in 12 or more semester credits and maintains a 3.0 or higher overall GPA.</p>
<p>cptofthehouse, I agree! I remember that about a year ago, I was in a supermarket in NJ. A couple of their their employees were stocking shelves. They were both complaining about how “fees” in our state colleges make it look like tuition is more affordable than it really is. Our fees are about 2600 at Rutgers, which next to fees listed above are a bargain. Still, COA is btn. 23-24k.</p>
<p>Relevant discussion here</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/900652-how-my-state-school-let-me-down.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/900652-how-my-state-school-let-me-down.html</a></p>
<p>This is outrageous. Well, if Mitt comes to any Q&A forum where I am, I have a question for him. He should be ashamed of this. I would be and would do something about it if I could. </p>
<p>I don’t have a lot of sympathy about high costs of public schools and OOS students getting shortfalls, but each state has an obligation to provide some reasonable cost options to all of their student for college. To hide the true cost in fees is down right deceptive.</p>
<p>Many, many years ago, the Mass. legislature wrote a law that for every college class taught in a State college/univ. by a full-time faculty member, a certain percentage of tuition would have to be returned to the Mass. general fund. I suppose since full-time faculty were getting state paid salaries, this made sense to some. For this reason, to keep what is returned to the State very, very minimal, tuition is low. However, to make up for actual expenses, “fees” have to be pretty high, since the tuition is low to avoid paying too much back to the general fund. It all made sense to someone… Very few people know this reason for such a system, and I believe Mass is the only state with such a law.</p>
<p>yes this is a well know problem in Massachusetts. Misleading is an understatement.</p>
<p>Also, the headline of the linked article is misinformed. It says “free ride.” That means a scholarship that covers everything: tuition, fees, room, board. But that’s not what the article is talking about. I wonder if the headline writer was just ignorant or was willfully deceptive in order to get more people to click on the article.</p>
<p>OP here – I didn’t realize that Massachusetts had such high fees. The article (which I saw on Facebook) made it sound like a really great deal. I’m surprised that the Boston Globe (where the article appeared) didn’t do a better job reporting the true facts.</p>
<p>All of the UMass schools have the same “free tuition” deal for CC students, and yes it’s very misleading. I’d call it false advertising. I’ve seen many parents very excited to find out their child is getting free tuition (through the Adams Scholarship) to any state school, having no idea how little that is going to help. </p>
<p>There are several ways for MA residents to get the free tuition: Stanley Koplick Award, John and Abigail Adams Scholarship, and a Talent Scholarship based on auditions for music majors. You can’t collect on more than one “free tuition” scholarship though, and it’s only worth about $1500 per year. </p>
<p>UMass Lowell does in fact offer a free ride scholarship, though:
Its for MA resident, GPA of 3.75 and Combined SAT scores of 1400 (math and critical reading)</p>
<p>[Scholarships</a> For Incoming Freshmen : Financial Aid : UMass Lowell](<a href=“http://www.uml.edu/Stage/financialaid/undergraduate/Incoming_Freshmen_Scholarships.html]Scholarships”>http://www.uml.edu/Stage/financialaid/undergraduate/Incoming_Freshmen_Scholarships.html)</p>
<p>UMass Dartmouth has the same “free ride” scholarship for 3.7 GPA and SAT 1400.</p>
<p>UMass Boston might have this too, but its not on their website. UMass Amherst does not offer this.</p>
<p>I am very disappointed in the Boston Globe for their misleading story. They should not print something like that without explaining UMass tuition and fee structure. Also, UMass Lowell is not unique in the offer for CC students; that same offer is at all UMass campuses, including Amherst.</p>
<p>As far as I can see, MA state schools are the only schools in the country with low tuition and very high fees. Princeton Review includes the fees when listing the UMass tuition, adding to the confusion/disappointment for students with the "free tuition offer.</p>
<p>$1500 off your college bill is better than a stick in the eye.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>True…but there have been kids who’ve posted that they thought that they could afford their UMass school because of the award of this scholarship …only to find out that that they couldn’t afford to pay the $9k in FEES, plus another $10k+ in room, board, books, etc.</p>
<p>It’s very misleading, because typically fees are maybe $1000 or so at most.</p>
<p>I agree that $1500 is a nice discount, but when it is headlined as free tuition and it turns out the fees are $9k more, that can make it unaffordable for a lot of kids. A kid who is PELL eligible cannot meet the costs with Staffords and the full PELL unless s/he commutes. How is s/he going to come up with $19K plus discretionary spending amounts for books, supplies, etc? </p>
<p>I think UMass should reverse the fee/ tuition designation because this is highly deceiving.</p>
<p>As I posted previously, UMass and other Mass. state universities won’t reverse the tuition/fees set up, because to do so would cost them huge amounts in refunds to the Mass. General Fund, and they need income, not larger expenses, to pay all those sports scholarships, fees to use Gillette Stadium when building a perfectly good stadium that will only be used for practices, etc… Someone should really be looking into how the schools spend the taxpayers’ money.</p>
<p>I saw that, and can only shake my head, Teachandmom. If they are so stuck that way, then they should advertise that " the $1500 in tuition is waived" instead of just saying that"the tuition is waived" to avoid misunderstanding on part of most people.</p>
<p>I think that a lot of people who are posting would benefit by understanding that free tuition means free tuition (in this case around $1,500), not free college. If the school (and Amherst and Lowell are the only schools in the UMass system offering this, not all of the campuses, and the programs include other benefits that differ between campuses), says it offers free tuition and then actually does offer it, how is that false advertising? Also, you cannot change the definition of tuition and fees because they are not interchangeable. Tuition goes to the state, while the individual campuses keep the fees to help pay to run the campus. There are some mandatory fees that all students pay and some that are specific to their majors. The total fees for UMass Lowell (which does not have a football team - that is Amherst) are not $19,000 - that is the total for students who live on campus, which includes room and board. Only about a third of students live on campus and the rest commute, so their total cost (including tuition) is about $10,000 a year. Subtract $1,500 from that and it is a good savings. I wish I’d had this when I was an undergrad! There is a website that explains the whole thing: [Massachusetts</a> Advantage Plus Program (MAP) : Admissions : UMass Lowell](<a href=“http://www.uml.edu/map]Massachusetts”>Tuition Assistance Program | UMass Lowell).</p>
<p>Where it is deceptive is that tuition is universally assumed to be the bulk of the cost and fees are supposed to be the incidental part. It sure fooled me and it fools a lot of other people who don’t specifically know how Massachusetts has its tuition and fee structures set. Cost is a very important part of college, and it should be made crystal clear.</p>
<p>I agree fully that $1500 is a nice discount. But having to still pay $8500 to go to college, even commuting, is a big hunk of change to cover. And that is just for those local to Lowell. That $1500 savings is not going to help much in terms of someone who would have to move there to attend. They are still far better off commuting to their local state school. Anyone who is not Pell eligible but has to pay most of his/her college costs is going to be hard put to get that 4 year degree in Massachusetts. </p>
<p>It’s not just Mass. I see the same in a number of other states. There are some community college options, (hopefully decent) available for most kids, but once they finish there, the cost to get the next 2 years for a degree skyrocket. If there are no state schools nearby that are affordable, what can the kid do? Going to a school, like UMass Lowell with that generous $1500 is still out of range since PELL, Staffords are still not going to come close to covering the cost of living there. It does help the local kids and those who already can afford the bulk of the cost of the school. Doesn’t really open many doors for anyone.</p>