By Anna Albrecht, WBUR
UMass Boston (UMB) reports that more in-state freshman enrolled this fall than in at least a decade, with a record number of freshman reporting to the Columbia Point campus mostly in response, officials say, to a new state funding plan, upgrades to the campus, and the quality of the institution’s educational offerings.
It’s the first year the public university is offering free tuition for Massachusetts residents from households making $75,000 or less using the state program. The Beacon Pledge, as UMB calls it, is a financial aid program that allows qualifying students starting this year to attend with no tuition payments or mandatory fees.
At the same time, millions of dollars have been invested in facilities and open spaces around the campus, and UMB is also still basking in its new research designation from early 2025.
“The best way to disrupt inequality is the distribution of knowledge,” Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco said in an interview with WBUR. He said he hopes to get the word out about the initiative to more potential students.
“We are of the city and for the city,” Suárez-Orozco said. “Our DNA is profoundly shaped by our iconic city, a city that has given the world so much.”
Out of the 2,378 freshmen entering UMass Boston this year, 84 percent are from Massachusetts, said university spokesman DeWayne Lehman. The 1,988 local freshman represent an 11 percent increase from last school year, based on the student profile report. UMB reviewed enrollment data going back 12 years.
Of those in-state freshmen, 1,014 are receiving free-tuition through the Beacon Pledge, Lehman said. That number is even stronger for Boston Public School (BPS) students.
“The higher numbers are coming from all over the region,” said John Drew, vice chancellor for enrollment management at UMass Boston. “We have a strong connection with Boston and other schools across Massachusetts, with 30 percent coming in this year under the Beacon Pledge being Boston Public School students. That’s high, but it’s true generally. We are also seeing more and more first-year students from across Massachusetts.”
Ashley Salmeron, a freshman studying biology who grew up in Everett, said the Beacon Pledge factored heavily into her decision to attend UMB. She said the initiative has helped her and her family feel relieved of stress.
“I think more schools should do that to help the ones that want to keep going with education,” she said.
Salmeron said she did not know about the Beacon Pledge before applying to UMB and was considering other regional schools. But when she discovered that she qualified for the free tuition, she chose UMB.
Some students on the Beacon Pledge commute to UMB, as it has traditionally been a commuter school, but more and more are living on campus. There are 1,100 beds in dorms that opened in 2019 on campus, mostly for freshmen, while older students often choose neighboring Harbor Point as a base.
Stephanie Aboagye, 20, came to live in the UMass Boston dorms as a first-year student after graduating from Worcester’s North High School, and said the Beacon Pledge has changed the calculus for her education. She had also considered Clark and Suffolk Universities, but financing was trickier.
“It was the deciding factor for me to choose between UMass Boston and any other university really because of the money,” she said in an interview at the foyer of the Motley West Residence Hall. “I chose UMB because of the scholarship they gave to help pay my tuition.
“The Beacon Pledge gave me the chance to pursue my studies,” she continued, noting she wants to become a lawyer with an emphasis on ethics and philosophy. “Education is very expensive and with this scholarship I don’t have to balance working and studies. With the Beacon Pledge, I can focus my time on studies and also experience clubs and activities…I’m thinking about joining the Model UN and I am part of the First-Year Leadership Institute.”
Brisa Portillo, a senior from Everett, recalled getting an email about the Beacon Pledge and wishing it had been around earlier.
“I thought, ‘Where was that when I started?’” said Portillo, who lost her Pell Grant this year. She said she thinks the Beacon Pledge, while good for new and incoming students, may make other students feel as though they missed out on that assistance.
Nevertheless, Suárez-Orozco said, he is proud to welcome the largest class of in-state students, indicating that the school is “just beginning to see the beautiful echo” of the Beacon Pledge.
That echo also extends to transfers from community college’s like Bunker Hill Community College, as well as the innovative Early College program in partnership with BPS schools – including the Ruth Batson Academy also on Columbia Point.
“We have 1,100 transfer students every fall and 600 to 700 in the spring,” said Drew, noting that community college transfers can receive the Beacon Pledge. “We are the UMass institution with the largest connection with the community colleges. And we’ve done a lot of work to make that as seamless as possible…A lot of students see community college as a great starting point and UMass Boston as their next step to a full university program.”
That work with transfers includes allowing them on campus before they are done at community college. Some 40 students took advantage of a new program where they have “joint admission” and get a UMass Boston identification, library/gym access, and can attend events to become acclimated with UMass Boston before arriving for classes. Transfer student enrollment was up 7 percent this fall, Drew added.
Earlier in 2025, the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education recognized UMB as an R1 classification research university – meaning they spend more than $50 million on research each year and confer more than 70 research PhDs per year. Drew said the designation shows that UMB is serious place for groundbreaking discoveries in a variety of fields, and a great place to learn from faculty who are on the cutting edge of their fields.
“R1 research university status changed the way people think about us,” said Drew.
“It does put you in the conversation with other institutions from an academic quality standpoint,” he continued. “It helps students and parents understand they can come and experience a quality education that is contributing to that research, and we spend $70 million on research every year…We are one of seven in New England…Parents and students nowadays want to know there are going to be outcomes.”
All four UMass campuses have implemented their own free tuition programs similar to the Beacon Pledge for students entering this fall.
This story is part of a partnership between WBUR and the Boston University Department of Journalism. The Reporter’s Seth Daniel contributed to this article.
