Enrollment surging at UMass five-campus system

BOSTON (AP) -- Enrollment at the University of Massachusetts is surging.

University President Robert Caret said Wednesday that the number of students has jumped 16 percent in the past five years -- from about 61,000 in 2007 to nearly 71,000 this school year.

That's a record for the five-campus system.

Over the past decade, student enrollment in the UMass system is up by nearly 13,000 students.

Caret credited the increase to what he said was the university's quality and affordability compared to private universities.

The UMass system includes four undergraduate campuses in Boston, Lowell, Amherst and Dartmouth, and the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester.