UMass Won’t Set Tuition Until State Budget is Approved

BOSTON (AP) _ Officials at the University of Massachusetts say they're holding off on setting tuition rates for the 2016-2017 academic year until after a new state budget has been finalized.

UMass President Marty Meehan said Wednesday that the wait-and-see approach is best because it will let the university push for the strongest possible budget deal for the five-campus system.

Meehan says the goal is to keep a potential tuition increase as low as possible.

The Massachusetts House approved $508 million for UMass while the Senate proposed $521 million. The two chambers have to hammer out a compromise budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The UMass Board of Trustees will meet in July to address the tuition issue after the state budget is in place.