At its core, UMass Lowell has always been about working hard and dreaming big. About taking what we have and making something bolder and better. About appreciating what was and having the vision and the courage to imagine what could be. 

Whether you graduated from Lowell Tech or Lowell State, from ULowell or UMass Lowell, these principles are a throughline—a thread that binds generations of River Hawks. 

They are also the underpinning of our recently launched comprehensive fundraising campaign, Designing the Future. With a goal of raising $250 million by 2028, the campaign will help usher in the university’s next era, providing students with a top-quality education while enabling pioneering research and building partnerships with business and industry that fuel the Massachusetts and New England economy. 

Officially launched in October after a three-year quiet phase, the effort has already secured nearly $175 million in commitments from alumni, partners and supporters who believe in where UMass Lowell is headed. It’s an extraordinary start—but there is more work to do. 

With $75 million still to raise and a goal of 75,000 River Hawks taking action, this campaign depends not only on transformational gifts, but on broad alumni participation. Every gift matters. In our last comprehensive fundraising campaign, gifts of $100 or less added up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. When thousands of River Hawks step forward at every level, small gifts create big impact.

Reaching $250 million will take all of us—and together, we will get there.

So how will Designing the Future make a difference at UMass Lowell? The vast majority of funds raised will support student success, providing more scholarships and enabling career-connected experiences such as paid internships so that students leave the university prepared to flourish in whatever path they choose. Funds raised will support research, enabling innovation and discoveries that are helping to improve health and livelihoods and to drive economic growth. 

UMass Lowell is at an inflection point, and this fundraising campaign will help propel us forward.

A portion of the proceeds will support the Lowell Innovation Network Corridor (LINC), a public-private development that is bringing some of the top businesses and innovators to our doorstep—not only expanding research and employment opportunities for our students and faculty, but also creating new lab, office and re- tail space and adding new housing. How can you make a difference in this effort? We’re calling on our alumni and friends to help us reach another important campaign goal: 75,000 River Hawks taking action—by donating, mentoring, volunteering or attending events. Your involvement makes us stronger. 

We’re a better community when you show up. 

True to the River Hawk way, we’ve got big goals, but we also have some serious momentum: Last fall, The Wall Street Journal named UMass Lowell as the No. 1 public university in the state, and U.S. News & World Report ranked the university as the No. 1 best value school in Massachusetts. And last year, the university was named a Carnegie Research 1 (R1) university, a prestigious designation used to identify the nation’s top research institutions and one that only 7% of four-year universities hold. 

UMass Lowell is at an inflection point, and this fundraising campaign will help propel us forward. In the following pages, we’ll take a look at the different eras that have gotten us to where we are now and how we plan to move ahead. The details may surprise you, but the fundamentals remain the same: hard work and a vision of what could be. That’s how we are designing the future of UMass Lowell.