By AdamLechowicz – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=92605671
Four public universities in Massachusetts recently announced a free tuition program that covers illegal immigrants.
The four University of Massachusetts undergraduate campuses — UMass Amherst, UMass Boston, UMass Darmouth, and UMass Lowell — announced that they will cover tuition and mandatory fees at University of Massachusetts campuses for undergraduate students from households earning $75,000 per year or less, starting next school year, according to a press release from the office of UMass President Marty Meehan. The four UMass undergraduate schools have 53,902 undergraduate students, according to the UMass web site.
The program covers those who would otherwise be eligible for in-state tuition, a spokesman for UMass Boston told NewBostonPost via email last week.
“Undocumented students who now qualify for in-state tuition/residency classification under the state’s new Tuition Equity Law and file the state aid application, MASFA, qualify for the Beacon Pledge,” UMass Boston director of communications DeWayne Lehman told NewBostonPost by email.
The student must have 1) attended high school (or district-approved home school) during three academic years of high school (9th – 12th grade) in Massachusetts and 2) graduated from a Massachusetts high school or have a Massachusetts high school diploma equivalent. The school may be public or private but must be physically located within Massachusetts. A student must also have graduated from high school or have received the equivalent of a high school diploma (such as a GED or HiSET).
UMass President Marty Meehan praised the new free college program.
“These programs are highlighting how truly affordable a UMass degree is, and I applaud our UMass chancellors for their efforts to ensure students and families are aware of that fact,” Meehan said in a press release from his office. “Since 2015, the University of Massachusetts system has made record investments in university-funded aid, boosting it by 73 percent to $409 million annually. Our record institutional aid combined with the historic expansion of state financial aid through MASSGrant Plus by the Healey-Driscoll Administration and the Legislature, have made it possible for all undergraduate campuses to cover the costs of tuition and mandatory fees for our highest-need students.”
MASSGrant Plus is a $62 million program that provides scholarships to lower-income households in Massachusetts.
The UMass schools typically cost in-state undergraduate students between $15,000 and $17,000 per year and out-of-state students between $32,000 and $39,000 annually, depending on the school.
Governor Maura Healey also touted the program in a press release from UMass Boston.
“Massachusetts is home to incredible state colleges and universities, including Boston’s only public research university, UMass Boston,” Healey said in the press release. “We have made important progress over the past couple of years to make higher education more affordable and accessible for all students and are glad to see UMass Boston lifting up the historic financial aid available to students at state universities through their Beacon Pledge. I’m grateful for the leadership of Chancellor Suárez-Orozco and look forward to continuing to support the amazing work happening at UMass Boston and campuses across the state.”
Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance spokesman Paul Diego Craney criticized the state for providing more handouts to illegal immigrants.
“Massachusetts taxpayers simply cannot afford these very generous taxpayer-funded benefits for the world’s illegal immigrants and inadmissible migrants,” Craney told NewBostonPost via email. “Until our southern border is secure, Massachusetts will continue to be a magnet state for the world and that is not fair for the taxpayers. Governor Maura Healey and legislative leaders need to rethink their priorities, and focus on helping the middle class in Massachusetts.”
This is not the only free college program that illegal immigrants are eligible for in Massachusetts.
Governor Healey signed the fiscal year 2025 budget into law this past July 29. It contains a $93.5 million provision that makes community college tuition-free for Massachusetts residents, including illegal immigrants, if they meet those guidelines above, as NewBostonPost previously reported.
A spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education could not be reached for comment on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.
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By AdamLechowicz – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=92605671 
