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Learn More about the UMass System

UMass – A World-Class Public Research University

The University of Massachusetts is a five-campus public research university system renowned for the quality of its academic programs, the scope and excellence of its research, and its enduring adherence to its public service mission. UMass provides access to high-quality, affordable education that advances knowledge and improves the lives of the people of the Commonwealth, the nation and the world.

A Comprehensive University System

• UMass Amherst • UMass Boston • UMass Dartmouth • UMass Lowell • UMass Medical

A Leader in Online Education

UMassOnline is your entry into the University of Massachusetts online programs and courses.  

UMass System Points of Pride: 

• UMass was named No. 52 on the Reuters Top 100: The World’s Most Innovative Universities, jumping five spots in the influential ranking. The rankings from Reuters distinguish institutions doing the most to “advance science, invent new technologies and help drive the global economy,” and recognize consistency of innovation.
• For the first time ever, all four UMass undergraduate campuses are rated in the top category of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges rankings – making UMass one of the few university systems in the nation to have each campus so acclaimed.
  • UMass Amherst was ranked 27th among public universities in the nation in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges rankings.
  • UMass Lowell, which has been lauded in recent years for its rapid rise in the rankings, continued its ascent, moving to 78th among public universities nationally and 152nd overall.
  • UMass Boston and UMass Dartmouth were tied for 220th in the National Universities category, both entering the top tier of the National Universities ranking for the first time.
  • In U.S. News & World Report’s Best Graduate Schools list, UMass Medical School ranks 14th in the nation for Primary Care education, making it the top medical school in New England in that category. UMass Medical School also ranks 50^th in the Research category.
• UMass was ranked by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings as the No. 1 public university in New England and one of the 30 best public universities in the nation.
• UMass faculty include a Nobel Laureate, Pulitzer Prize winners, members of the National Academy of Sciences, an American Book Award winner and Fulbright, Guggenheim, MacArthur and Mellon fellows. Nine UMass faculty members have been named to the list of the World’s Most Scientific Minds of 2016.
• UMass is one of the fastest growing institutions in the nation, with student enrollment rising almost 27 percent during the past decade, from 58,939 in Fall 2006 to 74,496 in Fall 2016.
• With more than 300,000 graduates living and working in Massachusetts and 17,000 new graduates every year, UMass is the largest producer of highly-skilled workers in the Commonwealth.
• In addition to being the state’s largest educator of Massachusetts residents, UMass is also the state’s second-largest employer with more than 23,000 employees.
• At UMass, sponsored research and development has grown by nearly 50% since 2008, reaching a record high $632 million last year. UMass is now the third-largest research university in Massachusetts, behind only Harvard and MIT, and is the fourth-largest research university in New England.
• Research at UMass is concentrated in areas of importance to the commonwealth’s economy, like the life sciences, data science, climate science, and advanced manufacturing, among many others.
• The university was awarded a record 66 U.S. patents in Fiscal Year 2016 and ranked among the top universities granted U.S. patents in calendar year 2015, placing 24th in the nation, 30th in the world, and third in New England.
• The university stimulates $6.2 billion in Massachusetts economic activity annually, according to a 2016 UMass Donahue Institute study, providing Massachusetts with a 12-to-1 return on investment on its annual state appropriation.
• Directly and indirectly, the economic activity of the university supports more than 43,000 Massachusetts jobs every year
• UMass is one of two university systems nationwide to have all of its campuses recognized with the Carnegie Foundation’s Community Engagement Classification, which is considered the gold standard for measuring the service that universities provide to their local communities.

Learn More about UMass Amherst

Online Learning from the UMass Flagship Campus

UMass Amherst is the flagship campus of America’s education state and New England’s largest public research university. Our faculty and administrators, students, and alumni generate new ideas, apply new solutions, and tackle the commonwealth’s and the world’s most complex, challenging problems.

We view online learning as an extension of our mission. Our online classes, degrees and certificate programs offer the same rigorous academic standards and outstanding university faculty as our on-campus programs.

UMass Amherst’s online learning opportunities include:

• Graduate degree programs designed for busy professionals, including MBA and Nursing programs ranked in the top 15 nationwide
• Undergraduate degree and degree completions programs
• Certificate programs 
• Hundreds of online undergraduate and graduate classes open to students not enrolled in a degree or certificate program

UMass Amherst online programs offer you the opportunity to advance your education, pursue your professional goals, and earn a degree from an internationally acclaimed institution of higher learning that has been designated a top 30 public university by U.S. News & World Report.

UMass Amherst Points of Pride:

• The University of Massachusetts Amherst is one of the nation’s top public universities. We rank number 27 in a field of more than 700 public, four-year colleges and universities in the United States, moving up 13 spots in the past three years in the U.S. News & World Report’s annual college guide.
• UMass Amherst is the flagship public higher education campus in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, making a profound, transformative impact to the common good. Founded in 1863, we are the largest public research university in New England, distinguished by the excellence and breadth of our academic, research, and community outreach programs.
• Broad academic spectrum. UMass Amherst offers 118 undergraduate degree programs as well as 76 master’s and 48 doctoral programs.
• Data science pioneer. We are established leaders in big data with a thriving new Center for Data Science. Working with industry and government, we are applying our internationally recognized expertise to data science and making multimillion-dollar investments in this booming field.
• International intellectual leader. We rank among the top 200 programs worldwide in 17 academic disciplines, according to the 2016 QS World University Rankings by Subject.
• Community-engaged students. UMass Amherst engages the community with 359 programs, partnering with 499 organizations in 21 states and involving 86 different campus units.
• Award-winning scholars. We are one of the nation’s top-producing research universities for student Fulbright and Goldwater scholarships. Our 16 Fulbright scholars, along with our Goldwater and Beinecke scholars, exemplify our excellence.
• Data science pioneer. We are established leaders in big data with a thriving new Center for Data Science. Working with industry and government, we are applying our internationally recognized expertise to data science and making multimillion-dollar investments in this booming field.
• Life sciences leader. The Institute for Applied Life Sciences, launched with a $95 million investment from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, combines expertise from more than 120 faculty members.
• The Isenberg Online MBA has been ranked #3 in the Financial Times of all online MBA programs worldwide. Isenberg is one of the oldest accredited online MBA programs in the United States with nearly 1,300 enrolled students.
• UMass Amherst places among the best places in the country for veterans to pursue a college education and receive important support services, according to three national media outlets that focus on the military UMass Amherst is a recognized leader in recruiting and supporting veterans in their post-service education. The campus currently serves more than 400 veterans.
• World leader in climate science. The federal government selected UMass Amherst to lead a consortium of seven universities and host a major new initiative, the Northeast Climate Science Center, funded with a $7.5 million grant.
• Alumni connections. We have a powerful network of more than 260,000 alumni worldwide who are leaders in their communities and in the sciences, professions, and the arts.

Learn More about UMass Boston

Online Learning at UMass Boston
Welcome to our thriving online community of learners like you, someone with a busy life and a ready mind for learning. Let us help you navigate through the decisions in choosing higher education online at UMass Boston.

Get to Know CAPS and UMass Boston
Whether you’re 50 miles or 5,000 miles away, you’ll want to know more about the institution through which you’ll pursue your studies.

The College of Advancing and Professional Studies (CAPS), one of 11 colleges and schools at UMass Boston, is wholly responsible for making the high quality of a UMass Boston education available online. Our benchmarks are an education that is accessible, convenient, engaging and rewarding. Faculty are trained on how to create fulfilling and connected learning communities, and they receive ongoing support from a full complement of online education systems professionals to make sure your university is working for you 24/7.

CAPS also manages New England’s second largest summer school by offering over 700 online and on campus courses, field study programs, study abroad programs, summer institutes and summer classes on Nantucket Island at the UMass Boston Field Station. Our winter session, on a more modest scale, offers over 100 on campus, online and short-term study abroad programs.

Just What You Need
Your challenges today and aspirations for tomorrow dictate the depth of study you need to meet your goals. The College of Advancing and Professional Studies strives to deliver the array of education options that help people around the world find just what they need to succeed.

UMass Boston Points of Pride:

• With more than 50 years of excellence, UMass Boston combines a strong sense of community with the resources of a major research university.
• In fall 2016, UMass Boston had 16,847 students. The diverse student body represents more than 140 countries and speaks more than 90 different languages.
• The Princeton Review has included UMass Boston on its list of Best Business Schools. TopMBA ranked UMass Boston’s MBA program 48 in North America in the QS Global 200 Business Schools Report.
• SuccessfulStudent.org ranked UMass Boston’s 18-credit Global Post-Disaster Studies Certificate sixth best online homeland security program in the nation
• Collaborative research partners include the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, IBM, Children’s Hospital Boston, Partners HealthCare, New England Aquarium, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and Boston Public Schools.
• U.S. News & World Report ranked UMass Boston ‘Best Online Bachelor’s Programs’, ‘Best Online Business Programs’, ‘Best Online Education Programs’ as well as recognized the distinguished College of Nursing and Life Sciences amongst the top 5 percent of nursing graduate schools in the nation, placing 50th of the 1,000 schools surveyed.
• The Association of Public Land-Grant Universities named UMass Boston among 14 Innovation and Economic Prosperity universities for engagement in local, regional, national and global partnerships that foster innovation and economic opportunity. UMass Boston was rated as one of the "50 Most Innovative Public Service Schools" in the United States by BestValueSchools.com. It was ranked as the top public university in New England and the second overall in Massachusetts behind Harvard, which ranked first.
• SmartAsset.com evaluated UMass Boston’s education as the 5^th best value on the list of Massachusetts schools and number 63 overall.

Learn More about UMass Dartmouth

Welcome to UMass Dartmouth, fully accredited and offering top ranked online undergraduate bachelor’s programs by U.S. News & World Report.

Define Your Success at UMass Dartmouth
At UMass Dartmouth we understand that going to college may seem daunting as an adult. We recognize that the needs of adult students are different from traditional 18- to 22-year olds. That’s the reason you’ll find a friendly team of professionals to talk with you and provide the information about how your credits will transfer and how you can balance earning your degree or certificate program with your work and home responsibilities. You’ll discover a structure that provides advisors and services to specifically support adults returning to college.

UMass Dartmouth online classes are small in size allowing for interaction with fellow students and the faculty member. Our online students have the benefit of being taught by the same faculty who teach in the classroom. Whether you attend part-time or full-time, we offer 24/7 online tutoring as well as financial aid packages to help fund your education. We also offer training sessions to help make students more comfortable with the online teaching format even before you begin your academic program.

Explore the UMass Dartmouth program listings. You’ll find exceptional programs with services in place to help you achieve your educational goals. Contact us by phone or email to find out more information. We’re ready to help you get started.

UMass Dartmouth Points of Pride:

• Enrollment at the Southcoast campus is now above 9,000 students.
• UMass Dartmouth’s College of Nursing was ranked in the top 10 percent among graduate programs surveyed nationwide by U.S. News & World Report, which placed it 79th among more than 1,000 surveyed in its 2015 edition of the “Best Graduate Schools.”
• UMass Dartmouth is highly ranked among national peers by Washington Monthly for the upward mobility of students, encouragement of students to give something back to the community and production of cutting-edge research that benefits society.
• UMass Dartmouth is rated among the top 1 percent of universities and colleges nationwide on the President’s National Education Honor Roll for Community Service, with its students contributing nearly 200,000 hours of service to the region.
• The School for Marine Science & Technology was awarded more than $4 million for collaborative research on scallops as part of a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s research program.
• UMass Law School, the only public law school in the Commonwealth, was named to The National Jurist’s honor roll for legal education practical training.

Learn More about UMass Lowell

Welcome to Online Learning at UMass Lowell!
Benefit from the Excellence and Expertise of an Award-Winning Public Research University

Award-Winning Online Programs
Over the past 20 years, UMass Lowell has established itself as a recognized leader in online education, winning several national awards for excellence in quality online education.

The Degree You Want and the Flexibility You Need
Whether you are interested in taking a single course, pursing a certificate program or earning your undergraduate or graduate degree, UMass Lowell has a large variety of online courses and degree programs for busy adult learners.

• Degrees are awarded by the same academic departments — and undergo the same rigorous oversight — as UMass Lowell’s on-campus programs.
• Pursue your degree at a pace that works best for you.
• Courses are available year-round, during the Fall, Spring and Summer semesters.
• UMass Lowell’s accelerated courses allow you to speed up your progress toward your degree.
• Transfer credits from your previous college or university, and complete your degree sooner.
• Affordable tuition, financial aid and 24x7 technical support

Personalized Student Support
UMass Lowell’s online student support specialists and faculty advisors are happy to help you with your questions. Advising is available by phone, email, live chat, Skype, or even in-person if you prefer. UMass Lowell students also have access to online course technical support 24x7.

UMass Lowell Points of Pride:

• UMass Lowell’s 27-spot rise to 156th in the U.S. News & World Report national universities rankings is tied for the second-fastest increase in the nation. The campus is also ranked 80th among all public universities.
• Enrollment is up 50 percent since 2007 to more than 18,000 students, and the average GPA for incoming freshmen is now 3.59.
• UMass Lowell is undergoing a dramatic physical transformation, and has opened 10 new buildings in the past five years.
• PayScale ranks UMass Lowell among the top colleges and universities in the nation — 35th among public institutions and 66th among all schools — for return on investment (ROI).
• UMass Lowell’s $63 million research enterprise includes partnerships with industry leaders like Raytheon, centers such as the top robotics testing facility in the country and work in cutting-edge fields from nanomanufacturing to flexible electronics.
• UMass Lowell has been named to the President’s Higher Education Honor Roll for Community Service and to the Military Times’s “Best for Vets” college rankings.
• UMass Lowell offers students experiential education opportunities through professional, research and service-learning co-ops and internships, as well as international exchanges.
• UMass Lowell’s new Honors College enrolled more than 960 students this fall.
• In recognition of its commitment to economic engagement, UMass Lowell is one of only 14 public institutions nationwide designated as an Innovation and Economic Prosperity University by the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU).