Colleges in Massachusetts
Solyo has full profiles for 24 colleges in Massachusetts: 2 public, 22 private nonprofit. The median family here pays $30,915 a year after grant aid, $9,350 above the national median. Half of these schools admit more than 25% of applicants. They sit across 14 cities, concentrated in Boston, Worcester, Amherst.
What Massachusetts costs
Published in-state tuition at the median Massachusetts public university is $17,772 a year before aid. Residency is worth the most at University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where an out-of-state family pays $22,677 more for the same degree.
After grants and scholarships the range runs from $17,707 at University of Massachusetts-Boston to $49,465 at Berklee College of Music. That spread is the reason a sticker price is a poor way to build a list in Massachusetts.
Why net price beats sticker price, and what an average one does and does not tell a particular family.
How selective Massachusetts schools are
Harvard University admits 4% of applicants and University of Massachusetts-Boston admits 84%. A list drawn only from the selective end of that range has no likely school in it, which is the most common mistake in a first draft.
The highest average SAT reported in Massachusetts is 1560 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Every Massachusetts college profile
Ordered by selectivity, most selective first.
- Harvard UniversityCambridge, Massachusetts · Private nonprofit4% acceptance · $19,066 net price · 1553 avg SAT
- Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridge, Massachusetts · Private nonprofit5% acceptance · $20,111 net price · 1560 avg SAT
- Northeastern UniversityBoston, Massachusetts · Private nonprofit5% acceptance · $30,915 net price · 1497 avg SAT
- Williams CollegeWilliamstown, Massachusetts · Private nonprofit8% acceptance · $17,716 net price · 1533 avg SAT
- Amherst CollegeAmherst, Massachusetts · Private nonprofit9% acceptance · $23,367 net price · 1533 avg SAT
- Boston UniversityBoston, Massachusetts · Private nonprofit11% acceptance · $24,402 net price · 1480 avg SAT
- Tufts UniversityMedford, Massachusetts · Private nonprofit11% acceptance · $39,998 net price · 1513 avg SAT
- Wellesley CollegeWellesley, Massachusetts · Private nonprofit14% acceptance · $25,496 net price · 1520 avg SAT
- Boston CollegeChestnut Hill, Massachusetts · Private nonprofit16% acceptance · $41,704 net price · 1507 avg SAT
- Babson CollegeWellesley, Massachusetts · Private nonprofit17% acceptance · $40,514 net price · 1457 avg SAT
- College of the Holy CrossWorcester, Massachusetts · Private nonprofit18% acceptance · $38,782 net price · 1353 avg SAT
- Smith CollegeNorthampton, Massachusetts · Private nonprofit21% acceptance · $27,579 net price · 1500 avg SAT
- Franklin W Olin College of EngineeringNeedham, Massachusetts · Private nonprofit25% acceptance · $25,171 net price · 1520 avg SAT
- Mount Holyoke CollegeSouth Hadley, Massachusetts · Private nonprofit36% acceptance · $26,441 net price · 1463 avg SAT
- Clark UniversityWorcester, Massachusetts · Private nonprofit40% acceptance · $28,714 net price · 1370 avg SAT
- Brandeis UniversityWaltham, Massachusetts · Private nonprofit41% acceptance · $35,736 net price · 1462 avg SAT
- New England Conservatory of MusicBoston, Massachusetts · Private nonprofit41% acceptance · $46,754 net price
- Berklee College of MusicBoston, Massachusetts · Private nonprofit44% acceptance · $49,465 net price
- Bentley UniversityWaltham, Massachusetts · Private nonprofit45% acceptance · $37,930 net price · 1352 avg SAT
- University of Massachusetts-AmherstAmherst, Massachusetts · Public60% acceptance · $22,383 net price · 1423 avg SAT
- Worcester Polytechnic InstituteWorcester, Massachusetts · Private nonprofit60% acceptance · $43,071 net price
- Stonehill CollegeEaston, Massachusetts · Private nonprofit66% acceptance · $33,016 net price
- Merrimack CollegeNorth Andover, Massachusetts · Private nonprofit70% acceptance · $37,927 net price
- University of Massachusetts-BostonBoston, Massachusetts · Public84% acceptance · $17,707 net price · 1194 avg SAT
Other Northeast states
On median net price Massachusetts is the 7th most affordable of the 9 Northeast states in this directory, and the 8th most accessible on median acceptance rate. In-state pricing makes the neighbouring states worth checking too.
- New York (45)
- Pennsylvania (30)
- New Jersey (10)
- Connecticut (9)
- Rhode Island (6)
- Maine (5)
- New Hampshire (3)
- Vermont (3)
Where to go next
- College search filter Massachusetts and every other state by major, cost and selectivity
- How to read these numbers what each figure on a profile measures
- Scholarship directory awards with published odds, filterable by state
- All 50 states and Washington D.C.