University of Massachusetts Amherst

The University of Massachusetts Amherst (otherwise known as UMass Amherst) is a university in Amherst, Massachusetts. It is the main campus of the University of Massachusetts system, the others being UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth, UMass Lowell, and the UMass Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts.

UMass Amherst is also associated with four other area colleges in a collaboration known as the Five Colleges. The school colors are maroon and white, sometimes replaced by gray. The mascot is the Minuteman, and is represented by a man in the school colors wearing typical minuteman costume.

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is classified as a Research I university by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, reflecting the breadth of the University's programs, including offerings of over 90 undergraduate and 65 graduate areas of study. The University has distinguished itself in several areas, offering nationally recognized programs in, among other areas, linguistics, computer science, polymer science, creative writing, social thought and political economy (STPEC), and labor studies. The University's library is the tallest in the world, and is home of the memoirs and papers of the distinguished African-American activist W.E.B. DuBois as well as being the depository for other important collections, such as the papers of the late Congressman Silvio O. Conte.

Table of contents

1 History of the University of Massachusetts Amherst
2 Five Colleges
3 External links

History of the University of Massachusetts Amherst

The University was founded in 1863 under the provisions of the Federal Morrill Land Grant University Act to provide instruction to the citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the "agricultural, mechanical, and military arts". Accordingly, the University was initially named the Massachusetts Agricultural College (or M.A.C.). It was known as this until 1931, due to an increase in enrollment and support from the Commonwealth (of Massachusetts), it was renamed the Massachusetts State College.

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Five Colleges

UMass Amherst is a part of what is known as the Five Colleges, along with Amherst, Hampshire, Mt. Holyoke, and Smith Colleges. All Five Colleges are located within a 20 mile radius of Amherst center, and are accessible by public bus. Students attending any of the Five Colleges have access to the facilities of all five, for example they may borrow books from any of the libraries and can take courses at all five schools. Some undergraduate or graduate departments are shared among the five, including the astronomy department ([1]) and students have the opportunity to work with professors from any of the schools.