College profile
UMass Amherst
Listed in federal data as “University of Massachusetts-Amherst”.
MA · Public · Small city · 50,424 applicants 2023
A parent's read
- The major moves the money more than the admit letter. Computer Science grads from here earn about $123,519 four years out; anthropology grads about $31,186 — a 4.0× spread on the same diploma. Have the major conversation before you deposit, not after.
- The payoff holds even at full price: roughly 5× over a decade. With no aid at all — the full in-state ~$34,549/yr — a decade of median earnings (~$71,631/yr) still runs about 5× the four-year cost. This payoff doesn't depend on qualifying for anything. (Out-of-state costs more.)
- Built for the AI economy. About 1 in 11 degrees here is already in AI, computer science, or data fields; its AI research output ranks #57 among US universities. This campus is leaning into the shift, not waiting for it.
- Ask the submit question deliberately. This college is test-optional — but at many such colleges, applicants who submit strong scores are admitted at meaningfully higher rates. “Optional” is a strategy decision, not a pass.
Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.
Parent/student verdict
Moderately selectiveSolid match for academically prepared students.
Best for
- Strong academic profiles — students here cluster in the top test and GPA tiers (bands above)
- Students drawn to Business, Management, & Marketing or Biological & Biomedical Sciences (the two biggest majors)
- Research-oriented students (R1 — top tier of federal research funding)
The reality
- You'd be near the bottom of their admitted class if: SAT below 1300, or ACT below 29, or unweighted GPA below ~3.80 (test bands are the school's own; the GPA floor is our estimate, not a published figure)
Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price with aid and at full price, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.
What are your child's odds here?
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Weighted is the higher GPA, with honors/AP credit in it — pick whichever your school reports. PSAT scores work in the SAT box.
Institutional snapshot
What kind of college is this?
27% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, 4% an ACT — these ranges describe students who submitted, not the whole class.
Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.
High-school GPA
4.05 avg weighted GPA, enrolled first-years
| Enrolled first-years | 4.05 weighted |
weighted (school-reported, can exceed 4.0). Common Data Set 2025-2026 (UMass Amherst University Analytics and Institutional Research) ↗
As published by the college in its Common Data Set / admissions data (2025-26) — independently verified 2026-07-23 (source linked above). GPA basis (weighted vs. unweighted vs. 4.0-scale) varies by college and is labeled above.
Outcomes & cost
What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.
Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).
The real cost
What UMass Amherst actually costs
Which side your family lands on isn't set by any national income line — it's set by UMass Amherst's own aid decision: the gap between its price and your family's finances.
UMass Amherst's own published aid policy · as published for 2025-26
Who qualifies: MA residents; covers in-state tuition + fees only.
Beginning with the Fall 2025 semester, if your household earns an adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less, you can qualify to attend UMass Amherst at no cost for tuition and mandatory fees. ... If you qualify for UMass Amherst Advantage, 100% of your tuition and mandatory fees are covered by federal, state, and institutional aid. ... UMass Amherst Advantage covers in-state tuition and mandatory fees. The program does not cover the cost of campus housing, meals, required fees, or program/college-specific curriculum fees.
Income thresholds assume typical assets. Policy independently verified against the college's financial-aid pages ↗.
Your odds + estimated cost across your whole college list, side by side.
The payoffTen years of typical graduate pay minus four years of cost — how many dollars ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten. Check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you; median pay reflects who a college admits and what they study as much as the college itself., both ways
+$578K ahead at full price +$627K with aidSource: College Scorecard (average net price among Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates who received aid) and each college's published cost of attendance. We don't show the federal net-price-by-income brackets: their categories were fixed in 2008 and never adjusted, and none of the averages is your family's own number — the full story. Payoff = (10-yr median earnings × 10) − (4 years of cost), in dollars — how far ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten; medians travel with the students a college admits and the majors they choose as much as with the college itself. Full price is the published cost of attendance, largely in-state for publics; earnings are 10 years after enrollment, all majors combined.
What students study here
Most popular majors at UMass Amherst
Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what UMass Amherst actually graduates — not just what it markets.
What those majors earn here
Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — UMass Amherst's own graduates, not national averages.
| Major (CIP) | 4-yr earnings |
|---|---|
| Computer Science. | $123,519 |
| Computer Engineering. | $113,083 |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering. | $101,091 |
| Accounting and Related Services. | $100,516 |
| Chemical Engineering. | $97,990 |
| Industrial Engineering. | $97,791 |
| Mechanical Engineering. | $96,999 |
| Finance and Financial Management Services. | $96,995 |
| Architectural Sciences and Technology. | $93,156 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | $92,623 |
Sources: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a; bachelor's-level first majors, 2-digit CIP family — share is of the top 5 only) · College Scorecard program-level outcomes (PP-FOS). Full college-vs-major comparison: /college-outcomes →
Alternatives to UMass Amherst
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Feeder high schools
Which high schools send graduates to UMass Amherst?
Enrolled — from the schools' matriculation lists
62 high schools publish a numbered matriculation list — where their graduates actually enrolled, counted, in the school's own School Profile — and name UMass Amherst on it. Between them they printed 145 enrolled graduates. Ranked by graduates per class year enrolling at UMass Amherst, from each school's own published list: the number that school printed, divided by the class years its list covers. The published total and the school's own years label are shown beside every school, so a one-year list and a five-year list can sit on the same page. A list whose class years we cannot read is not divided by a guess — it is listed below with its total instead.
and 52 more
Admitted — from the schools' acceptance lists
10 high schools publish a numbered list of college acceptances — where their graduates were admitted, not where they enrolled — and name UMass Amherst on it. Between them they printed 43 admissions. Ranked by admissions per class year to UMass Amherst, from each school's own published acceptances list: the number that school printed, divided by the class years its list covers. Admits are counted at each college a student was admitted to, the same way the UC Reach Score counts a student admitted to three UC campuses three times — so this is a count of admissions, not of students. The published total and the school's own years label are shown beside every school, and a list whose class years we cannot read is listed below with its total rather than divided by a guess.
All 71 feeder schools, ranked →
Counted from each school's own published document, linked on that school's page. A high school that is not here does not publish a numbered list we could read — that is all absence means, and it says nothing about its graduates. Where a school publishes both, the two lists are shown separately: an acceptances list is not a list of enrollments, and the two are never added together.
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At a glance
JSON · Using this page with an AI assistantUMass Amherst is a public four-year college in MA. It admitted 58% of applicants (50,424 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.
Middle 50% of enrolled first-years who submitted that test: SAT 1300–1480, ACT 29–33. 27% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, 4% an ACT — these ranges describe students who submitted, not the whole class. Average enrolled GPA 4.05 (weighted, 2025-26, as published by the college).
Cost: about $22,383 a year on average with aid, $34,549 a year at full price for in-state students.
Median earnings ten years after entry: $71,631 a year. Payoff, meaning ten years of that pay minus four years of cost: $626,778 ahead with aid, $578,114 ahead at full price.
Highest median earnings four years after the degree, by program: Computer Science ($123,519); Computer Engineering ($113,083); Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering ($101,091).
Aid pledge published by the college for 2025-26: families earning under $75,000 pay no tuition (MA residents; covers in-state tuition + fees only).
High schools that publish a numbered matriculation list and name UMass Amherst: 62, 145 enrolled students between them — ranked by graduates per class year, most often The Williston Northampton School (3.0 per class year, 3 over 1 class year, Class of 2026 / Classes of 2022-2025, counted column "Class of 2026 Matriculation List"); Beaver Country Day School (2.0 per class year, 10 over 5 class years, Five Year Summary 2022-2026); Falmouth Academy (2.0 per class year, 2 over 1 class year, Class of 2026). Each figure is the number that school printed divided by the class years its own list covers; the totals and years are shown. These are the schools that publish such a list, not every school that sends students; full list: https://highschoolreach.com/leaderboards/feeder-schools/university-of-massachusetts-amherst.
High schools that publish a numbered list of college acceptances naming UMass Amherst: 10, 43 admissions between them — ranked by admissions per class year, most often Middlesex School (13.0 per class year, 13 over 1 class year, Class of 2026, counted column "accepted"); Archbishop Mitty High School (10.0 per class year, 10 over 1 class year, Class of 2025); Oratory Preparatory School (3.0 per class year, 3 over 1 class year, Class of 2025). Admits are counted at each college, so this counts admissions, not students. These are a different set of documents from the matriculation lists above and the two are never added together; full list: https://highschoolreach.com/leaderboards/feeder-schools/university-of-massachusetts-amherst.
Machine-readable version of this page: https://highschoolreach.com/colleges/university-of-massachusetts-amherst.json