Higher education

UMassD undergraduate students engage in research alongside faculty, like Professor Robert Fisher and Physics student McKenzie Ferrari discussing the mysteries of the cosmos.

by Sean McCarthy

UMass Dartmouth touts itself as a place where people can go to achieve their dreams, and they’re making good on that notion.

In addition to being a significant economic catalyst for the South Coast, UMass Dartmouth is a college with a growing national footprint. UMass’s contributions to the region in the forms of employment and scientific study are virtually unrivaled, while at the same time this research university is producing knowledge that benefits and affects the nation and the world. UMass has an impact of $550 Million on the South Coast economy, while 70 percent of its students are from the region.

The school is ranked second in the state for social mobility, and 69th in the nation in that category, which means they connect their students to great jobs. Ninety-seven percent of UMassD graduates are employed or in graduate school within six months of finishing their degrees. Many students graduate with competitive salaries starting at $50,000 a year while some graduates enter the work force at six figures.

“We pay a great deal of attention to preparing students for the upcoming economy,” says Dr. Mark A. Fuller, Chancellor of UMass Dartmouth. “Our curriculum focuses on new emerging areas.”

Among UMass’s program offerings include traditional fields like engineering, computer science, nursing, medical lab sciences, business, law, and visual and performing arts. The school is also on the progressive cusp with specialties such as cybersecurity, data science, business and analytics, game design, and internships for students interested in the offshore wind industry.

Applications are continuing to rise, and UMass is seeing growing success thanks in part to being a smaller-sized research university.

“Our size allows us to be a much more closely connected campus, our class sizes are more intimate,” Dr. Fuller says. “We have a high level of faculty involvement with students, which prepares our students to graduate with sought-after skills that allow them to earn competitive salaries. It’s one of the main factors in our success.”

“We’re preparing people for great jobs with an unparalleled student experience.”

Chancellor Fuller with students about to move into the campus’s new residence halls

UMass’s graduate and undergraduate enrollment is approximately 7,000 students, which makes it the smallest school in the UMass system, and one of the state’s smaller research universities compared to Harvard, Boston University, and UMass Amherst.

“Most research universities have 30,000 to 40,000 students, so we’re able to do particular things in a different and unique way,” Dr. Fuller says. “Most of our students are from South Coast communities who return to work in South Coast communities. We’re the knowledge capital of the South Coast – the heart and soul of the region.”

Fifty percent of UMass students are first-generation. Forty percent are Pell-eligible who have limited financial resources, and 37 percent are students of color. About half of students live on campus, with new first-year residence halls opened last year and hundreds of student clubs and extracurricular activities like athletics.

Considered the “maritime campus” in the UMass system, the university contributes to the area with studies taking place in regional topics such as political science, sustainable fisheries, autonomous underwater vehicles and economics. They also tackle national topics such as viral spreading in closed spaces, a subject that increased in urgency during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We will continue to have a profound impact on the South Coast and have a growing reputation nationally,” Dr. Fuller says. “We’re going to become a jewel of an educational institution in the northeast.”

For more information visit umassd.edu.

Professor Kevin Stokesbury and students explore the balance between increased sustainability in the marine environment and ocean-based renewable energy sources