Tuition and other fees will be waived for low-income students who want to attend UMass Boston under a new program announced yesterday during a press conference at the Dorchester campus.

The Beacon Pledge Free Tuition Program will start next fall, according to UMass Boston Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, who was joined by Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and several other elected officials at the event.

“Sixty years ago, UMass Boston made it a top priority to offer quality higher education to underrepresented and underserved students. The Beacon Pledge today extends this commitment,” said Suárez-Orozco.

In its first year, UMass Boston officials hope the program will support as many as 3,000 students. To qualify, students must be Massachusetts residents and come from families with an adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less.

“The Pledge is more than just free college, it is about attracting and investing in motivated young people so they can reach their full potential,” the chancellor added. “It is about clearing their pathways to meaningful career choices and workforce opportunities without the terrible burden of debt.”

Suárez-Orozco credited the Healey-Driscoll administration’s investment in the MassGrant Plus program for making the tuition-free program possible.

“We want to make it as easy as possible to achieve this thing called a higher ed degree,” said Driscoll. “MassGrant Plus is making all our state public college and universities tuition and fee-free for qualifying low-income students and dramatically reducing costs for middle-income students.”

Students can apply for Beacon Pledge by completing the UMass Boston application and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or Massachusetts Application for State Financial Aid (MASFA).

Currently, over 60 percent of UMass Boston students are the first in their families to attend college.

State Senator Nick Collins and State Representatives Daniel Hunt and David Biele were on hand for the announcement.

“I come to you with the title state representative but right now I’m going to put on my first-generation college student hat,” said Biele. “I was the son of a construction laborer and store clerk. I remember when we were applying to schools, filling out the FASFA could be a very overwhelming process, especially for first-generation families and my family is no different.”

He added: “[UMass Boston] is making sure world-class education is accessible for families like my family so they can create that generational change. I wouldn’t be where I am without my education. It’s a pathway to great things.”

Isabella Pino, a current UMass Boston student, is also a first-gen student from a Latinx family.

“I spent hours researching and trying to find the right university for me and I knew I didn’t want to spend every waking minute of my time trying to find out how I could afford my education,” said the 22-year-old. “UMass Boston gave me the opportunity to graduate debt-free and I took it.”
Pino believes this new program will allow students like her to do just the same.

“What truly made a difference for me was the fact that I didn’t have that financial burden hanging over my shoulders. I was able to instead spend time trying to realize all the opportunities they had here, and I know that this program will do the same for others. It will open the doors to allow students to realize they can have self-growth and not have that worry of can I afford to be here? Instead, they will be able to foster community and take advantage of every resource this campus has to offer.”

Pino will be graduating with a degree in communications and management with concentrations in marketing and international management this year.

Abdul Shabayta, a third-year student studying Sociology, also spoke at the announcement.

“The benefits of the financial aid here have allowed me to go for my master’s right now as an undergrad which is extremely beneficial because I am able to use my undergrad financial aid to get my master’s for way less a cost,” said Shabayta.

Like Pino, Shabayta, a Lebanese immigrant, hopes this new program can help other students too and is especially excited to see how it will further diversify the campus.

According to Suárez-Orozco, around 80 percent of UMass Boston graduates remain in the state meaning the more diverse the school body is, the more diverse Massachusetts will be as well.

“Continued investment in public higher education is an investment in the future of our Commonwealth,” he said. “At a time when there is so much confusion in higher education, particularly related to the FASA process, especially for our immigrant and working-class families. Especially for families where English is not the first language. UMass Boston wants this to be perfectly clear. The most important word today to communicate is free. And the most meaningful phrase is free education.”