UMass Graduation

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, left, and UMass-Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy applaud during the 2014 commencement in Amherst earlier this month. Subbaswamy is joining Patrick on his trip to the Middle East next week.

(Dave Roback/The Republican)

The University of Massachusetts plans to freeze its fees and tuition for in-state undergraduates next year, according to a vote taken by the UMass Board of Trustees finance committee on Wednesday.

The freeze means tuition and mandatory fees for UMass Amherst will remain at $13,258. Counting room and board, the cost will be $24,215.

The vote came after both branches of the state legislature voted to pay for 50 percent of the cost of education at UMass.

"At a time when there is a national focus on controlling cost and curbing debt, the University of Massachusetts and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are doing something about it," UMass President Robert Caret said in a statement. "We are serious about addressing what has become a critical issue for families across the state and throughout the nation."

The public university and the state reached an agreement two years ago to increase the state's funding of UMass by $100 million over two years so that the state would pay half the cost of education at UMass's five campuses. In exchange, UMass would freeze fees and tuition. The state reached the 50:50 goal for the first time last year, and UMass froze its fees and tuition.

This year, both the House and Senate have proposed allocating $519 million to support UMass, an amount that would again meet the 50:50 goal. Although the final state budget has not yet been passed, the UMass trustees relied on those figures and took the first step toward freezing fees and tuition again this year. The trustees' finance committee voted unanimously to give preliminary approval to a freeze.

The final step in the rate setting process will happen June 18 when the Board of Trustees meets at UMass Dartmouth.

House Speaker Robert DeLeo, a Winthrop Democrat, said in a statement, "I'm proud we were able to provide the budgetary funding that enables UMass to take this important step towards freezing tuition for the second year in a row and I thank President Caret and the Trustees for their collaboration in reaching this lofty goal."

Tuition and fees vary for UMass's other campuses. Not counting room and board, they will be $11,966 at UMass Boston; $11,681 at UMass Dartmouth; and $12,447 at UMass Lowell.

The state legislature does not have to approve a budget until July 1. The UMass trustees gave Caret authority to raise fees by up to 3.5 percent if the budget ultimately does not provide the full funding that UMass expects.