University Mission: The University of Massachusetts Boston, one of five campuses of the University of Massachusetts, is nationally recognized as a model of excellence for urban universities. A comprehensive, doctoral-granting campus, we provide challenging teaching, distinguished research, and extensive service which particularly respond to the academic and economic needs of the state's urban areas and their diverse populations.
The mission and goals of the campus derive from and reflect the six components of the Vision Statement of the University system:
1. Access: The University of Massachusetts offers liberal arts and professional programs on the graduate and undergraduate levels, with doctoral programs addressing issues of particular importance to urban environments and people. Our curricula, the way we teach, and our financial and academic support services address the needs both of traditional and nontraditional students, who come to the University from varied social, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds, who may have a variety of previous educational experiences, and who characteristically combine University education with work and family responsibilities.
2. Excellence: The University of Massachusetts Boston addresses the intellectual and professional needs of individual students through classes and other educational experiences that encourage dialogue with faculty who are active scholars, performers, and/or practitioners. Our programs reflect contemporary thinking about the disciplines and professions, while honoring the disciplines' and professions' historical contexts. Students benefit from rigorous, specially tailored approaches to fostering gains in abilities and understanding. We seek to distinguish ourselves in four areas of inquiry: the physical environment; critical social and public policy issues; leadership in health, education, and human services; and high technology manpower needs.
3. Public Service: Extending the land grant tradition, the University of Massachusetts Boston forges linkages between research and service, and is forming partnerships with communities, the private sector, government, other colleges and universities, and other sectors of public education. These linkages bring the intellectual, technical, and human resources of the university community to bear on the economic and social needs of metropolitan regions -- for example, through public policy analysis and applied problem solving in areas such as environmental quality, city planning, tax policy, the schools, and economic development, especially in ethnic and minority communities.
4. Innovation: The University of Massachusetts Boston pursues research and offers programs serving current and emerging needs of urban populations, institutions, and environments, for example, in gerontology, public policy, and environmental sciences. Programs incorporate new knowledge developed through research, new methods yielded by emerging technologies, and insights and opportunities afforded by interdisciplinary, cross-disciplinary and other collaborative enterprises.
5. Economic Development: The University of Massachusetts Boston works cooperatively with metropolitan businesses, major public and private sector employers, representatives of state and local governments, neighborhoods and communities to develop programs to link Massachusetts with economic communities around the world. We offer professional education in areas critical to  regional employers, assist state executives in policy analysis and development, and work to strengthen small businesses and local governments through the application of knowledge and expertise and by providing an effectively educated workforce. We conduct research on critical economic issues, e.g., the environment, especially but not solely harbor and coastal aspects thereof;
social, public, and fiscal policy. And we offer programs to enhance Massachusetts' participation in the global economic community.
6. Quality of Life: The University of Massachusetts Boston sponsors and supports cultural diversity by helping ethnic and international communities to articulate and celebrate their cultural values and identities, and by recognizing the contributions and achievements of members of these communities. We educate artists, performing artists, writers, archivists, teachers, environmentalists and others whose lifelong contributions will enrich the culture and environment of the urban populace. By the nature of our enterprise and through our normal activity, we contribute to the rich
and diverse cultural life of a major American city.

UMass Boston's aspirations are similarly reflected in the following "vision statement," which is a joint product of the campus's Faculty Council and the Office of the Chancellor:
The University of Massachusetts Boston, a doctoral-granting, research university, will be a leading urban public university in the nation. Through the depth and breadth of its commitment to the following areas of endeavor, the University will serve as a model to other such institutions. The University of Massachusetts Boston will: 
sustain a superior faculty dedicated to excellence in undergraduate and graduate teaching;
provide innovative and often interdisciplinary programs that can respond in a timely manner to societal issues and problems;
meet the needs of both traditional and nontraditional students; continue to promote diversity among students, faculty, and staff; and conduct educational, scholarly, and service activities that contribute to meeting the needs of a diverse society;
nurture both pure and applied research to advance knowledge and to create a better society for all;
devote a high proportion of research and public service activities to the cultural, social, and economic development of the Commonwealth and the global community; and
dedicate itself especially to understanding and improving the environment and the well being of citizens of this region.

History/Location: University of Massachusetts - Boston is located on Boston Harbor, just south of downtown Boston. UMass Boston has two histories. One begins in 1852 with the founding of Girls' High School, the future Boston State College. The second begins in 1863, with the founding of Massachusetts Agricultural College, the future University of Massachusetts; it takes on new life in 1964,when the state legislature voted to establish a new University campus in Boston. These two histories, which came together in 1982 when Boston State became part of UMass Boston, have long shared a common strand: the abiding belief of generations of students and their teachers in what the Boston State motto calls "education for service." 

Academic Schools and Colleges, Programs and Degrees: The University of Massachusetts-Boston is organized into five academic schools, offering both undergradate and graduate programs:   College of Arts and Sciences, College of Management, College of Nursing, College of Public and Community Service, and Graduate College of Education.  UMass Boston offers 60 bachelor's programs, 29 master's programs and tracks, and nine doctoral programs.
In 1998-99, UMB conferred a total of 2,142 degrees: 82 certificates, 1,389 bachelor's degrees, 33 post-bachelor's certificates, 582 master's degrees, 38 post-master's certificates, and 18 doctoral degrees.  

Faculty: Fall 1999, there were 828 faculty members, 448 of which were full-time and 380 part-time.

Enrollment: 1999-00 headcount enrollment was 12,923, including 9,811 undergraduate students and 3,112 graduate students. In 1999-90, twenty-seven percent (27.0%) of undergraduate students were members of protected minority groups (9.2% Asian, 12.2% African-American, 5.2% Hispanic, and 0.4% Native American).  20.5% of undergraduate students are of traditional college age, 18-21 years.  42.2% are between 22 and 29 years, while the remaining 37.2% are over thirty years old. In 1999-00, 65% of all graduate students were women.

Admissions/Retention: In Fall 1999, UMB enrolled 789 first-time freshmen and 1,590 new undergraduate transfer students.

Costs: Annual full-time undergraduate student tuition and fees are $4,232 (in-state) and $12,362 (out-of-state) for the the 1999-00 academic year.  Annual full-time graduate student tuition and fees are $5,120 (in-state) and $12,374 (out-of-state) for the 1999-00 academic year. 

Budget: The operating budget for fiscal year 1999 is $142.6 million.   During the previous fiscal year, 1998, more than 260 active research and training grants attracted $17.2 million in external funding.

Institutional Affiliations: UMB is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

Sources: UMB and UMass system web sites, especially UMass Facts, 1997-98 maintained by the UMass system office.   Higher Education Directory, 1998 edition.