The University of Massachusetts Boston, also known as UMass Boston, is an urban public research university and the third-largest campus in the five-campus University of Massachusetts system.
The university offers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degrees and also operates certificate programs and corporate, continuing, and distance learning programs. The most popular programs are in business, nursing, psychology, education, and social sciences.
The school is composed of nine colleges: the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Science and Mathematics, the College of Management, the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, the College of Public and Community Service, the College of Education and Human Development, the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies and Global Studies, the School for Global Inclusion and Social Development, and the College of Advancing and Professional Studies.
The university combines a small-college experience with the vast resources of a major research university. With a 16:1 student-to-faculty ratio, students easily interact with professors because most teaching occurs in small class sizes. Ninety-three percent of full-time faculty hold the highest degree in their fields.
More than 100 student organizations, including clubs, literary magazines, newspapers, radio stations, art galleries, and 16 NCAA Division III sports teams, offer a rich campus life. The school does not have dorms, and students live throughout Greater Boston in apartment communities just steps from the campus.
The campus is located on the waterfront of Boston Harbor and is next to the JFK library. Access to the downtown Boston area is easy via a free shuttle to the nearby subway station.