The Massachusetts state senate passed a “Tuition retention” bill in July of 2015 which combines many fees and what was previously called tuition into one section of the bill entitled “tuition” at Massachusetts public universities. At the state’s flagship campus in Amherst tuition has increased by 8% and new fees have been added that could be up to $415 per semester. The bill also allows the the Massachusetts public universities to reword scholarships, even ones that have been awarded several years ago, from “tuition waivers” or “free tuition” scholarships  to “tuition credit” scholarships. The schools should not have the right to change the wording of scholarships that have already been awarded. Tuition retention under Bill S.663 was awarded to the Massachusetts public universities under the condition that the universities would simplify the bill of charges and make it more clear to the students what was actually owed. Under the new law it has made it even more confusing what is actually owed for the coming school year. Problems are compounded by the fact that the new “credit” does not take into account current or future tuition increases.

In the letters sent out to students, such as this one to students of the class of 2015, “You have qualified to receive a John and Abigail Adams scholarship, which entitles you to four years of free tuition (not including fees) upon your acceptance to a participating Massachusetts public institution of higher education, including a University of Massachusetts campus, a state university, or a community college”. On the John and Abigail Adams scholarship through the department of education website the scholarship reads that it is a “tuition waiver for up to eight semesters of undergraduate education at a Massachusetts state college or university”.

Nowhere on these letters does it indicate that the university or department of higher education has the right to reword the scholarship. The scholarship currently given to the students is incongruous to the amount mandated by the John and Abigail Adams scholarship. The only caveat under which the student scholarship may be revoked is if they are not a full time student, if they fail to retain a 3.0 GPA, or do not annually complete the FAFSA.

 
What we believe is fair, is that all students who received the scholarship as a “tuition waiver” or “free tuition” can receive the scholarship as it is written, completely waiving the cost of tuition. Anyone who has received the John and Abigail Adams scholarship prior to July 1st 2015 should have their scholarship honored and be grandfathered into clause subsection (e) of section 73 of the Final Report of the Advisory Task Force on Tuition Retention.