UMass has attained the rank of the 40th best public university in the United States, according to the US News & World Report. This is two spots higher than last year, and in overall rankings they are up to 91st best university in the country, which is up from 97th last year. These totals are out of the 6,900 accredited universities in the country.
It might come as a shock to most UMass students that this is the case, as UMass has often filled the role of a safety school for Massachusetts residents. It used to be that if you couldn’t get into more prestigious universities such as Harvard, Brown, Yale, MIT, Northeastern, or whatever, you could go to UMass and at least have a good time, considering it also filled the role as a party school. When I told my friends’ parents that I went here, they often regaled me of stories of secessionist Butterfield, “Suicide Sylvan,” and drunken escapades in Southwest including but not limited to a guy falling out of Washington and waking up sprawled out on the now-long-gone Southwest pyramid. Despite having awesome faculty (Thom Hannum, Chuck Close, Max Roach, James Baldwin, and Chinua Achebe have all taught at the University), an expansive and varied campus, great dining, and alumni that have been responsible for inventing indie rock (Frank Black), revolutionizing race in sitcoms (Bill Cosby), saving the planet Druidia (Bill Pullman from Spaceballs), literally changed the game in basketball (Dr. J), among others, UMass never broke free of the stigma of being a second-rate institution behind the rest of Massachusetts’ more high-profile universities.
However, it’s pretty easy to see why the university has been ranking so highly of late. New facilities, dorms, research, and classes have expanded the worth of this university beyond the confines of Massachusetts and into the world at large. Its programs are among the best in the world, with the UMass food science department being ranked the best in the United States by the US News & World Report. Computer Systems ranked 18th, and Artificial intelligence ranked 8th in the nation as well. The Times High Education World University Rankings also said that UMass was the 64th best university in the world, with its Arts and Humanities curriculum being 33rd in the world, and its Life Sciences curriculum being 32nd in the world. The depth and breadth of classes being taught at this university, as well as its esteemed faculty, make this a wonderful place to learn on a budget. Professor Mason Lowance, who has taught at Morehouse College and Harvard Extension, among other places, said he could think of no better place to teach than in Bartlett Hall at UMass due to the small class sizes and eagerness of the students to learn.
The dining is also a huge asset to this university, not only because it fuels the students, but because it’s really good compared to what many colleges across the country offer. Using the combined efforts of UMass Dining Services, employment of large swaths of the student body, and the fruits of the verdant and bountiful Pioneer Valley, UMass boasts the 3rd best college dining systems in the country, as stated by the Princeton Review, with lots of local produce and meats being used. New dorms are also a big asset to the students in the Commonwealth Honors College (to the chagrin of many non-ComColl students on campus) and in the eyes of ranking organizations. This dorm area and the pandemic construction crisscrossing campus are all part of the University’s 50-year master plan, in which they rebuild many of the older buildings, or just build new ones in different locations. This shows a commitment to the future, which is something that holds a university in good stead with the ranking boards. However, true to the UMass aesthetic, they probably will not match with each other.
This high ranking does pose a few problems, most notably financial woes among the student body. These developments do not come cheap, and UMass has seen its tuition skyrocket over the past 20 years, making it among the most expensive public universities in the country. John Tierney of the Atlantic argues that the rankings of the US News & World Report and other authorities in the matter help to drive up college costs. He says, “The formula they use in calculating ranking rewards schools that spend more money, so they do precisely that, and then they have to raise their tuition to cover the growing costs.” UMass has an endowment from the state, given its status as a public university, but whatever coffers may have been filled by the endowment now are used on new developments, accommodations, salaries, and to fulfill the 50-year masterplan, so they raise the tuition cost for students.
Sources
***Photos taken by Juliette Sandleitner***
http://dailycollegian.com/2013/09/16/umass-up-in-national-rankings/
http://www.usnews.com/education/slideshows/10-great-college-towns/2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Massachusetts_Amherst#cite_note-autogenerated3-11