Op-ed: Time for UMass system to implement needed fiscal reforms

As University of Massachusetts President Marty Meehan considers raising tuitions yet again, his institution is at a crossroads.

On the one hand, the University of Massachusetts has many achievements of which to be proud. Under the leadership of Meehan and his predecessors over a quarter century, the average grade point average of entering UMass Amherst freshmen shot up from around 2.9 to 3.8. In just the last five years, the flagship Amherst campus rose more than 20 spots in U.S. News & World Report rankings.

While impressive, the strategies that produced such advances have compromised the university’s financial health and its mission of serving Massachusetts students. Read the rest of this op-ed in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Salem News, Fall River Herald News, Gloucester Times, Taunton Gazette, Dedham Transcript, the Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise, the New Bedford Standard-Times, and The Lowell Sun.