<p>Honors colleges work well at other places because the “honors” applicants have some underlying desire to attend that public colleges, but need to convince themselves they are not selling themselves short and/or sacrificing too much vs. their other options by going there. I think many other publics have a lot more underlying desire going for them than UMASS: they have more prominent sports teams, a large percentage of college grads in those states went there, they get more publicity in local media, and there are fewer nearby competitive colleges for applicants to dream about attending when they are growing up, etc. If you grow up in michigan, california, texas, alabama, arizona, etc. going to the flagship state U is an option that almost all think they will eventually consider. </p>
<p>UMASS, unfortunately, does not have that underlying buzz that other state schools have. In MA, very few people grow up assuming they will apply to UMass. When you combine that with a relatively low bar for admittance to the honors college, the honors college seems less special. Add to that the so-so financial breaks and it is even less appealing. I think the breakdown between tuition and fees seems like a “bait and switch” to some applicant families, who expect more when they first hear “free tuition”. Add to that all the New England colleges to choose from, and UMASS has an uphill battle. They will need to make the financial break for top students (not top 15% but perhaps top 5%) to be really at a different level than the private options to start making solid traction.</p>
<p>Even if the new building helps somewhat, there is a huge lag effect, and it will take a long time to move perceptions.</p>