BOSTON — University of Massachusetts President Marty Meehan fiercely defended the benefits of public higher education in the commonwealth during his inaugural State of the University address.
Speaking before several of the state’s top lawmakers at the UMass Club in Boston on Monday evening, Meehan touted the university system’s role in driving economic prosperity in Massachusetts. He described the UMass system as the “lifeblood of the economy” locally, saying that the five campuses generated $6.2 billion in economic activity annually.
Meehan’s remarks came amid a discrepancy in what the university system has asked for in a funding increase and what Gov. Charlie Baker — who was in attendance Monday — has budgeted for UMass in fiscal year 2018.
University officials sought $538.6 million in state funding for fiscal 2018, an increase of roughly $30 million from the year prior. Baker instead has proposed giving the UMass system $513.3 million, a difference of about $25.3 million.
Rising tuition costs and mounting student debt similarly concerned Meehan. Keeping tuition in line with inflation will remain a struggle, he said.
Tuition and fees rose 5.8 percent on average for students this academic year, with another 5 percent increase last year.
Focus on fundraising for scholarships is one possible solution to the financial crunch facing students, Meehan said. Working with the state’s community colleges to provide additional routes to one of UMass’ five campuses is another, he said.
To battle student debt, Meehan proposed providing a free, online-based financial literacy program for students across the state’s colleges and high schools. The Massachusetts average for student loan debt is about $31,466, according to the nonprofit Institute for College Access and Success.
Meehan, former chancellor of UMass Lowell, his alma mater, highlighted the university system’s growing influence in the state. Roughly 360,000 state residents have a direct connection to UMass, he said. The system graduates about 17,000 students annually.
Increasingly, UMass is becoming the primary source of higher education for the state’s residents, he said. The five campuses are educating three times as many state residents as the top eight private institutions in Massachusetts combined, according to Meehan.
“We are, with increasing responsibility, the institution educating Massachusetts residents,” he said. “We are serving Massachusetts in a way that our private competitors no longer do.”
Meehan, a former congressman and Democrat, also took aim at President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting travel from six predominantly Muslim nations.
“Public research universities, especially those as important to their states as UMass, won’t stand idly by while federal policies undermine our mission so directly. We must stand up and speak out.”
Derrick Perkins can be reached at dperkins@gazettenet.com.