Where to Start Looking to Find Massachusetts Colleges
Like many states, Massachusetts has a state planning website for college Your Plan for the Future. It provides planning guidelines as well as tools to apply to colleges and scholarships and track related information. As usual, you’ll find a basic college search function but it includes all US colleges. You have to create a login to use any of the features.
The Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (MEFA) website provides a variety of useful resources including a college admissions toolkit and webinars. The site provides a basic overview of the financial aid process including a breakdown of the types of financial aid for the state. You can also find a list of various financial aid programs and scholarships for Massachusetts residents. The website also lists free admission and financial planning seminars around the state.
If you are planning at starting at a community college, you’ll want to visit the MassTransfer. This site provides information to ease the transfer process from community college to state institutions. You can also use the Massachusetts College Online website to find college course offered online by a consortium of public institutions.
The Office of Student Financial Assistance at the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education lists state specific grants, scholarships, and tuition waivers. The website includes FAQs about the program.
Some Numbers to Help You Find a College
Massachusetts has 65 four-year institutions with 500 or more full-time undergraduates. The 52 private Massachusetts colleges represent 66% of the enrollment while the 13 public universities account for 34% of the states 227,239 full-time undergraduates.
The average four-year graduation rate for private colleges is 58.6% and the five-year graduation rate for public colleges is 51.6%. A total of 21 Massachusetts colleges meet the DIY College Rankings 50-50 profile requirements.
The average SAT score for college-bound seniors in Massachusetts was 516 for Critical Reading and 531 for Math. The 75th percentile scores were 590 for Critical Reading and 610 for Math. A total 18 colleges had 75th percentile scores equal to or higher than the state in both categories.
The top 20 colleges SAT test takers in Massachusetts applied to:
- University of Massachusetts Amherst
- Northeastern University
- University of Massachusetts Lowell
- Boston University
- University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
- University of New Hampshire
- Bridgewater State University
- University of Massachusetts Boston
- Salem State University
- Westfield State University
- University of Rhode Island
- Framingham State University
- University of Vermont
- University of Connecticut
- Quinnipiac University
- Suffolk University
- Boston College
- Fitchburg State University
- Worcester State University
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Massachusetts Colleges Conferences and Divisions
List of Massachusetts Colleges
In the following table, the four-year graduation rate is used for private colleges and the five-year rate for public colleges. The data are based on the data available from IPEDS in December of 2014 which are available on the DIY College Search spreadsheet.
Massachusetts Colleges with Graduation Rates and Test Scores
(Download PDF version)
Name Type Full-time
Under-
graduates4/5 Yr
Grad
Rate% Admitted SAT CR
75th%SAT
Math
75th%ACT 7
5th%Net Price
American International College Private 1397 28 68 490 500 21 19211
Amherst College Private 1785 89 14 760 770 34 16550
Anna Maria College Private 845 43 78 24915
Assumption College Private 2022 70 74 26674
Babson College Private 2106 84 28 640 710 30 25041
Bay Path College Private 1179 46 58 550 540 22 21087
Becker College Private 1449 16 63 550 570 24 29282
Bentley University Private 4142 81 44 630 680 30 30501
Berklee College of Music Private 3950 36 36 41408
Boston College Private 9390 89 32 710 740 33 25564
Boston University Private 16593 80 46 670 720 30 31798
Brandeis University Private 3599 86 37 710 760 32 26952
Bridgewater State University Public 8034 52 79 540 550 24 14504
Clark University Private 2270 76 62 25332
College of Our Lady of the Elms Private 1006 57 75 520 520 22 20838
College of the Holy Cross Private 2877 89 33 25387
Curry College Private 2068 35 67 515 520 20 31792
Dean College Private 1076 62 68 480 470 19 26245
Eastern Nazarene College Private 1302 41 56 550 530 24 18228
Emerson College Private 3668 80 48 670 650 30 33371
Emmanuel College Private 1857 51 60 590 590 26 30899
Endicott College Private 2430 65 72 570 590 25 32171
Fisher College Private 1229 4 63 460 460 25555
Fitchburg State University Public 3438 44 72 540 550 22 11926
Framingham State University Public 3884 47 52 560 570 25 17310
Gordon College Private 1668 58 41 653 639 29 28500
Hampshire College Private 1492 56 64 36334
Harvard University Private 7240 87 6 800 800 35 16445
Lasell College Private 1649 47 76 540 530 23 27041
Lesley University Private 1460 35 67 600 570 26 33072
Massachusetts College of Art and Design Public 1677 71 70 600 580 27 19069
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Public 1353 54 67 580 550 25 13600
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Private 4499 84 8 770 800 35 20726
Massachusetts Maritime Academy Public 1333 64 77 550 600 24 13791
MCPHS University Private 3723 47 89 570 630 26 32860
Merrimack College Private 2604 54 79 29786
Mount Holyoke College Private 2151 76 47 29481
Mount Ida College Private 1167 29 61 490 490 20 29194
Newbury College Private 851 24 60 480 460 24904
Nichols College Private 1100 42 80 500 530 23 27058
Northeastern University Private 13204 0 32 730 750 33 30376
Northeastern University Global Network Private 1072
Regis College Private 948 38 72 520 540 23 24597
Salem State University Public 5834 39 69 540 540 24 14431
Simmons College Private 1577 66 49 630 620 28 29907
Smith College Private 2585 82 43 22907
Springfield College Private 2128 58 70 550 580 25 27616
Springfield College-School of Human Services Private 938
Stonehill College Private 2458 82 71 610 620 28 31181
Suffolk University Private 5236 41 83 560 570 25 27090
The Boston Conservatory Private 540 66 36 43208
Tufts University Private 5138 87 19 750 770 33 27096
University of Massachusetts-Amherst Public 20505 71 63 640 670 29 19120
University of Massachusetts-Boston Public 8759 35 71 550 580 10575
University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth Public 6373 45 72 570 590 25 15718
University of Massachusetts-Lowell Public 9034 47 64 600 630 28 15215
Wellesley College Private 2344 84 29 760 750 33 18998
Wentworth Institute of Technology Private 3634 50 58 580 630 27 31829
Western New England University Private 2498 52 82 570 610 26 29070
Westfield State University Public 4999 57 75 540 550 22 13509
Wheaton College Private 1645 71 67 32415
Wheelock College Private 809 46 73 550 540 25 29617
Williams College Private 2064 90 17 780 780 34 19503
Worcester Polytechnic Institute Private 3959 70 52 37192
Worcester State University Public 4115 45 61 550 560 24 13335