Gasoline, heat, food, clothing, cars, and the price of everything else is going up, so why not the cost of college, too?

The University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees voted on Wednesday to increase tuition and mandatory fees for all students. The university said it's the first tuition increase in two years. The State House News Service reported the trustees voted 12-2 to approve the increases first proposed last week.

Two student trustees, Derek Houle of UMass Lowell and Narcisse Kunda of UMass Dartmouth, were the dissenting votes.

The average undergraduate UMass student will face a 2.5 percent increase in tuition and an increase of between 1.9 percent and 3.9 percent for room and board for the 2022-2023 semester.

UMass Dartmouth Photo
UMass Dartmouth Photo
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The trustees' vote increases tuition and mandatory fees for in-state undergraduate students at UMass Dartmouth to $14,854. Graduate students face a $100 fee increase in addition to the tuition hike.

Tuition and fees for in-state students who attend the UMass Law School in Dartmouth will increase by 3.2 percent to $30,175.

Credit: Umass School Of Law Website
Credit: Umass School Of Law Website
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The tuition and fee hikes come as many SouthCoast families are already reeling from sharp increases in their cost of living.

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I spoke with Republican gubernatorial candidates Geoff Diehl and Chris Doughty regarding the tuition increase. Both are opposed to it.

"At a time when Massachusetts families are already struggling with high inflation, the last thing they need is higher costs of educating their kids," Diehl said. "We have an important obligation to make our state schools affordable to all those who chose to partake of them to better themselves."

"When the state has a surplus, UMass shouldn't be adding to the student loan debt burden," Doughty said.

If you are paying to educate yourself or a child at UMass, how will the tuition and fee increases impact your budget? Do you agree that the increase is needed to offset rising costs?

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