08/28/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/28/2024 13:10
After a second straight year of receiving more than 50,000 applications for admission, the University of Massachusetts Amherst welcomes a diverse first-year class of more than 5,300 students to campus this week.
The Class of 2028 ranks as the most diverse in the university's history, with nearly 39% of its 5,350 members composed of ALANA (African, Latino/Hispanic, Asian, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and Native American) students and nearly 19% of the class being under-represented minority students. Female students account for nearly 53% of the class.
Once again, the incoming class boasts one of the most stellar academic profiles of any class during the past decade, with the highest combined optionally submitted SAT (1397) and ACT scores (31.4), as well as the second-highest average high school GPA (4.05).
Nearly 70% of the incoming class is comprised of students from Massachusetts, as 3,720 students arrive from within the Bay State, while 1,630 students are from out of state, including 400 international students.
The campus will also welcome nearly 1,000 new transfer students - sporting the highest transfer GPA score (3.48) in the university's history - to the campus community.
The overall fall undergraduate enrollment at UMass Amherst, including transfer students, is projected to be approximately 22,800 with just over 72% being Massachusetts residents.
Commonwealth Honors College will welcome approximately 700 first-year students. The incoming class touts an outstanding average high school GPA of 4.37 and record-high combined SAT (1437) and ACT scores (33.0). The fall 2024 CHC class also marks the most diverse in the college's history, with 54% ALANA students and more than a quarter from under-represented groups.
This is the 18th year that UMass Amherst has offered an Early Action (EA) admission program whereby students apply early for admission and begin receiving notification of their acceptance by mid-December. The number of students using the EA option has increased annually from about 8,000 applicants in 2009 to more than 30,000 this year. More than 60% of prospective students applied for the Class of 2028 through EA, and 3,360 students admitted through EA will enroll in the fall.