University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Public Research University in Amherst, MA. Six-year graduation rate 83%. Median 10-year earnings $71,631.
Ten-year median earnings of $71,631 are the headline number here, and they are strong ones. The six-year graduation rate of 83% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $22,763, neither a bargain nor a burden.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.32 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 83% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
At 60%, the acceptance rate makes University of Massachusetts-Amherst a school worth applying to with alternatives in hand. The applicant pool is large — 50,261 in the most recent cycle — so the published rate reflects genuine competition rather than a small-sample quirk. Yield is low at 18%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. The score bands below rest on the 22% of enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT score — a self-selected group, and not a cutoff.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 650–730 | 1,191 (22%) |
| SAT Math | 660–770 | |
| ACT Composite | 30–33 | 176 (3%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at University of Massachusetts-Amherst →Academics
83% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. Retention is strong at 92%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. Retention drops to 45% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic. At 17:1, class sizes land in the normal range for an undergraduate institution. As a public four-year university, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 23,694 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $22,948 annually once grants are applied. The income table below is the number that matters — $10,164 at $0–30k versus $30,793 at $110k+. 73% of students receive grant aid, averaging $13,811 — common but not automatic. Federal borrowing reaches 47% of students.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 5,247 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $10,164 |
| $30–48k | $10,456 |
| $48–75k | $12,932 |
| $75–110k | $18,964 |
| $110k+ | $30,793 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 11,160 of these 23,694 students, totalling $72,083,507 — an average of $6,459 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Hampshire County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)