<p>Governor Deval Patrick just announced free UMass tuition to Mass community college transfers who attain a 3.0 GPA: Telegram.com:</a> Mobile Edition</p>
<p>Remember that at UMass, tuition is about $1700/year and “educational fees” are about $10,000/year for instate residents. That is before room and board charges.</p>
<p>Oh, yeah. UMass hits absurdly hard with those fees. But, even so, free tuition is an improvement.</p>
<p>Tom, why in the world do they do it that way?</p>
<p>I believe that “tuition” collected goes back to the state’s General Fund while “educational fees” are kept by the university. At least it used to be that way.</p>
<p>Does that apply to International students too ?</p>
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<p>The educational fees and out of state tuition is not being waived.</p>
<p>I am a current student at a massachusetts community college (Cape Cod), and can tell you that this offer is not at all what it seems. First, it only applys to students participating in a “masstransfer” compact, that requires all gen eds to be completed and the associates in arts degree must be earned. Second, you can only transfer to the school of humanities/fine arts or the school of social sciences. No agreement exists with the college of engineering, or the college of natural sciences (the college of nursing doesnt even accept transfers (at umass amherst)). The tuition waver is only offered, if you have never attended a private school before, so you cannot be a student who attended a local private school (for example brandeis or BU) then left after one semester, took classes at a community college and then decided he/she wanted to go to umass amherst. Umass Amherst none the less is trying to attract community college students from the eastern part of the state (cape cod community college or bunker hill cc) to transfer to the
“flagship university”, with this offer. Many communitycollege students in the eastern part of the state choose to transfer to Umass Boston or Umass Dartmouth because of convenience, and lower tuition</p>
<p>If my facts are wrong please correct me, but I believe that I am right</p>
<p>The “tuition waiver” works as a misleading gimmick. The new program trumpeted by the governor seems to promise more than it delivers (because the governor’s spokesman and/or the news media will characteristically fail to explain the fine print, and most people assume there would be no fine print), as explained by mackenzierose, in a manner similar to the way the “tuition waiver” operates.</p>
<p>“Tuition waivers” used to be actual tuition waivers, and perhaps they still are in more honest states. But Massachusetts has redefined “tuition” to mean only a fraction of the actual tuition, and renamed and categorized most of its tuition as “fees.” So students and parents getting the total tuition waivers may think they have a great deal, but really they only get a pittance - a $1700 discount on the $13,000 actual annual tuition…Oh and that actual tuition does not include other “one-time fees” that include, for example, an additional $500 for being a freshman, and another $100 for being a senior.</p>
<p>^For the last time, stop digging up old threads and reviving them. If you have something you want to post, start a new thread.</p>