The University of Massachusetts is a world-class public research university committed to advancing knowledge and transforming lives. UMass is renowned for the quality of its academic programs, the scope and impact of its research, and the strength of its public service mission.

The UMass President’s Office, helmed by UMass President Marty Meehan, provides leadership, financial management, and oversight to the university and its campuses, spearheads joint academic and financial initiatives, and provides shared services in order to drive maximum efficiency and effectiveness on behalf of our 75,000 students.

The UMass President’s Office has more than 300 employees across two offices in Boston and Westborough.
"UMass will help determine the kind of future Massachusetts will have and the kind of people we will be. The University is central to making the Commonwealth a place where everyone works for the common good and everyone has a chance to move forward in life and succeed."
Marty Meehan
President, University of Massachusetts

President Marty Meehan

Marty Meehan is the first undergraduate alumnus to lead the five-campus University of Massachusetts system. On July 1, 2015, he became the university’s 27th president after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as chancellor of UMass Lowell.

Meehan has an abiding belief in public higher education’s power to transform lives. At his presidential inauguration on Nov. 12, 2015, Meehan pledged to fight for UMass, which he called “the most important institution in Massachusetts in the critical areas of social mobility and economic growth.”

Under President Meehan’s leadership, the University of Massachusetts has continued to break records and excel in its mission.
In the past year, UMass has reached record highs in university-funded financial aid, endowment growth, and research funding. President Meehan also embarked on an ambitious expansion of the UMass Early College program and established an innovative scholarship program for Massachusetts community college students who plan to attend UMass.

Learn more about President Marty Meehan.

man riding a bike, passing by students sitting on a bench.

Affordability and accessibility

President Meehan has long been a champion for affordability and accessibility. Under his leadership, UMass has made record investments into university-funded financial aid, increasing it by $173 million, or 73 percent, to a new high of $409 million since he became UMass President in 2015. President Meehan also recently announced that all four undergraduate campuses will fully cover the costs of tuition and mandatory fees for students coming from households earning $75,000 or less per year through a combination of federal, state and university aid.

Early college students are sitting at their desks and look excited.

Early College

Early college programs allow high school students to earn transferable college credits for free, with some students earning up to two years’ worth of college credits before they graduate high school. Since the launch of the UMass early college programs in Fall 2022, the number of students served has continued to grow considerably. President Meehan announced plans to triple Early College enrollment to 2,000 in five years at his 2024 State of the University Address.

Students on laptops in a classroom.

Community College Partnerships

Massachusetts community colleges are the single-largest source of UMass transfer students, accounting for 44 percent of all transfers. Now, with the launch of MassEducate - which provides free community college to all residents of Massachusetts - President Meehan has directed the University of Massachusetts to double-down on our commitment to these students. That is one of the reasons that he launched the UMass Community College Advantage Scholarship last year, which provides at least $10,000 in scholarships to students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their class at a Massachusetts community college and transfer to a UMass campus.

Colorful wooden blocks that say, "Inclusion, Acceptance, Equality."

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility

President Meehan believes deeply that the UMass student body and its leadership must authentically reflect the diversity of our state. Under his leadership, UMass has become increasingly successful at recruiting, retaining, and graduating students from underrepresented backgrounds, and 50% of this year's incoming class are students of color. President Meehan also established an expanded UMass President’s Office Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Team. Diverse supplier spending at UMass has also risen to more than $100 million, doubling as a percentage and in real dollars over the last five years.

Students working on the UMass Amherst farm

Sustainability

All five UMass campuses have made a collective commitment to be “good stewards of resources” including not only fiscal resources but also a commitment to be environmentally responsible in their areas. Each campus' programs and services work to help UMass, as a whole, become a more sustainable entity.