BOSTON –
Gaining admission to the University of Massachusetts’ flagship campus in Amherst is, on average, more difficult for Massachusetts residents than for those who live outside the state, a new report suggests.
The Pioneer Institute, a Boston-based think tank which released the study on Tuesday, said it challenges the widely-accepted belief that nonresident applicants are held to more rigorous academic standards than their Massachusetts counterparts.
Researchers who examined university records from 2010 to 2016 found that, on average, out-of-state undergraduates admitted to UMass-Amherst had lower high school GPAs and lower SAT scores than in-state students during that period.
For nonresidents accepted to the university in 2016, the average GPA was 3.
78 and average composite SAT score was 1242, compared to an average GPA of 3.97 and composite SAT of 1265 for accepted in-state students.
“The numbers imply that Massachusetts residents are held to a higher standard for admission,” the report stated.
