University of Massachusetts-Amherst

Admission to the University of Massachusetts-Amherst is moderately accessible compared to other flagship public institutions, while its standing in national rankings has steadily climbed. In the 2027 US News rankings, the university placed 59th among national universities, improving from 75th in 2018. For the entering class of 2025, the university admitted 59.7% of applicants. This acceptance rate was higher than 70% of peer public research universities, where the median acceptance rate was lower. At the same time, the university faces competition in enrolling admitted students. Its yield rate stood at 17.9% in 2025, indicating that less than a fifth of admitted students ultimately decided to matriculate. This yield was higher than 33% of peer schools in the comparison group. For prospective students, these metrics show that while gaining admission is relatively attainable compared to many top-tier public peers, the school is frequently evaluated alongside numerous other options by applicants holding multiple admission offers.

Applicants to the University of Massachusetts-Amherst encounter competitive academic expectations, though standardized test score submission has shifted substantially in recent admissions cycles. For the class entering in 2025, the institutional median SAT score stood at 1420, which was higher than 78% of peer public universities in its comparison group. However, submitting standardized test scores is no longer universal among matriculating students; only 22% of enrolled freshmen submitted SAT scores, and an even smaller share submitted ACT results. For international candidates looking for an informal benchmark, applicant cases collected by Forward Pathway—which are unofficial figures—show that admitted international applicants had a median unweighted GPA of 3.58. These figures indicate that successful candidates typically demonstrate strong secondary school performance alongside testing credentials near the upper quartile of public flagship applicants. Prospective applicants should evaluate their high school course rigor and classroom achievement closely when assessing their competitiveness for admission.

Academic degrees at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst span diverse disciplines, with undergraduate enrollment distributed across liberal arts, business, and technology rather than heavily concentrated in just a few areas. In 2025, the top three undergraduate programs accounted for 21.6% of all bachelor's degrees awarded. General Psychology was the most popular major, followed by Computer Science, which conferred 463 bachelor's degrees. The university's enrollment in technical disciplines aligns with its strongest national academic standings. In the 2027 US News rankings, undergraduate Computer Science ranked 28th nationally, while its Artificial Intelligence program ranked 21st. Graduate programs perform similarly well, with Artificial Intelligence ranking 18th in 2026. These prominent computer science programs demonstrate immediate financial returns for alumni. According to 2023 earnings data, bachelor's degree recipients in Computer Science achieved median earnings of $96,878 one year after graduation. For prospective applicants, the institution offers nationally recognized STEM training with verified market outcomes, alongside widely chosen humanities and business departments.

The student body at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst is large and demographically varied, totaling 31,726 students in 2025 across undergraduate and graduate levels. Undergraduates make up the majority of the campus population, where domestic diversity is led by Asian American students. Among the incoming freshman class, Asian students represented 14.2% of enrolled first-year students, forming the second-largest racial demographic behind White students, who comprised over half the class. International students made up a modest portion of the entering undergraduate group. In contrast, the graduate division exhibits a far greater international footprint. In 2025, international scholars accounted for 33.9% of the graduate student body, totaling 2,646 enrolled students. Domestic Asian students formed an additional cohort of several hundred graduate scholars. This composition creates two distinct communities: an undergraduate sector largely drawing domestic students from Massachusetts and neighboring regions, and a graduate division heavily influenced by an international research cohort.

Undergraduate life at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst is shaped by a predominantly traditional college-age population. In 2025, students aged 20 to 21 made up 43.9% of all undergraduates, while those aged 18 to 19 accounted for 41.9%. Because more than four-fifths of undergraduates fall between 18 and 21, the undergraduate campus environment revolves around standard collegiate schedules, on-campus activities, and residential life. In contrast, the graduate division is older and more dispersed across life stages. The largest graduate group consists of students aged 25 to 29, representing 29.6% of graduate enrollment, followed closely by individuals in their early twenties and early thirties. This age profile reflects a classic separation between an undergraduate community moving directly from secondary school and a mature graduate population focused on professional and advanced research pursuits.

International student enrollment at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst has expanded steadily over the past decade, with distinct trajectories between undergraduate and graduate programs. By 2025, international students comprised 7.8% of the undergraduate student body, an enrollment proportion higher than 70% of peer public universities. At the graduate level, the presence is far more pronounced: international scholars reached 33.9% of all graduate students in 2025, having risen from under a quarter a decade earlier. When looking at degrees awarded, international students are heavily concentrated in quantitative and technological disciplines. At the bachelor's level, international graduates are most visible in Computer Science, accounting for roughly a quarter of that department's degrees. At the master's level, international representation is especially dominant in STEM programs, comprising 75.9% of degree recipients in Computer Science and over seven in ten graduates in engineering management. For incoming international students, these patterns show that graduate cohorts in computing and quantitative fields are largely international, whereas undergraduate education remains predominantly domestic outside of technology majors.

Applicants exploring higher education options in Western Massachusetts can consider several distinguished institutions located close to the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Right in the same town, Amherst College sits just 1 kilometer away and is ranked 2nd among national liberal arts colleges in the 2027 rankings. Nearby in Northampton, Smith College is located 7.4 kilometers from campus and holds the 22nd spot on the liberal arts college list. A short drive away in South Hadley, Mount Holyoke College is situated 9.4 kilometers away and is ranked 34th among liberal arts institutions. For students interested in technological education, Worcester Polytechnic Institute lies 37.5 kilometers to the east and is ranked 73rd among national universities.

Campus safety records at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst reflect an environment where policy enforcement related to substance use constitutes the vast majority of documented activity. In 2025, the campus crime rate per 1,000 students was 9.5, down from 10.4 in 2016. Across the three-year period from 2023 through 2025, disciplinary actions for alcohol violations were the most prevalent category, totaling 459 alcohol-related disciplinary referrals and 331 alcohol arrests. Property and violent offenses occurred with substantially lower frequency across those same three years. Incidents reported from 2023 through 2025 included motor vehicle thefts, along with reports of rape and theft. For students evaluating campus life, these figures indicate that overall criminal offenses remain comparatively low relative to the institution's large enrollment, while institutional monitoring and disciplinary reporting around alcohol use remain an active focus of campus law enforcement.