Small colleges in Massachusetts are a great option for students interested in a more intimate campus experience, more personal attention from excellent professors, and more immediate access to support services. Whether the focus is on the technical or on the liberal arts, small colleges give you the chance to pursue a well-rounded education while working closely with classmates and professors in a dynamic community atmosphere.
Some of the most talked about universities in Massachusetts are its private schools, including Boston University, Harvard University, Northeastern University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which also happen to be the largest. Tuition for these prestigious schools runs between $50,000 and $54,000. Students here have access to some of the top programs in the country in fields such as biology, literature, law, education, engineering, and religious studies. The alumni from New England schools are equally as impressive, including Martin Luther King Jr., Bill Gates, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Find college admissions consultants in your state.
The public higher education institutes also boast top-notch programs, allowing students to pursue associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in fields like mathematics, social work, medicine, and economics. The University of Massachusetts Amherst, the state’s largest public university, offers tuition around $16,000 and serves over 28,000 students. Additionally, students who are interested in attending a religiously affiliated school have 17 options to choose from, most of which feature high graduation rates for their students. For future dental, medical, or mental health professionals, Massachusetts also offers loan forgiveness programs for those working in underserved communities.
As the port of destination for the Mayflower, home to the Plymouth colony, and site of the Salem Witch Trials, Massachusetts looms large in United States history, but this most populous New England state isn’t just for history buffs. The Bay State is also known for its delicious cuisine, beautiful coastlines, and devout sports fans. Not to mention, it has over 100 colleges for students to choose from.
Find a program that’s right for you and explore the best schools Massachusetts has to offer.
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The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great. This is why, at the undergraduate level, we rank the best colleges and universities based on what we “Concentrated Influence”. Concentrated Influence takes the combined influence score of a college or university’s top academic influencers (including faculty and alums) and divides it by the school’s total number of undergraduates.
Using concentrated influence gives small and mid-sized schools an opportunity to shine by taking away the size advantage of larger universities. A small school with proportionately more influential faculty than a large school, whose influence in absolute terms may be bigger, will nonetheless score higher in a concentrated influence ranking. Our approach highlights undergraduate schools that truly rank for excellence, regardless of size.
If you are serious about finding the best colleges and universities for a bachelor’s degree, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching and whether their graduates are themselves advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence.
Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Concentrated Influence provides a ranking that is free from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.
Find out more about our ranking methodology here.
Less The following list of the best small colleges and universities in Massachusetts is composed mainly of four-year undergraduate schools (though a handful also offer graduate programs). We’ve identified 39 small colleges in Massachusetts, 28 of which satisfy our criteria. The list below of the best small colleges in the state satisfies the following four conditions:
Tuition + fees
$59K
Acceptance
12%
Graduation
95%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1415/32
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Amherst College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$52K
Acceptance
59%
Graduation
66%
Student body
1K
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Hampshire College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$56K
Acceptance
20%
Graduation
94%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1445/32
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Wellesley College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$57K
Acceptance
15%
Graduation
96%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1480/33
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Williams College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$54K
Acceptance
37%
Graduation
87%
Student body
3K
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Smith College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$52K
Acceptance
52%
Graduation
84%
Student body
3K
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Mount Holyoke College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$47K
Acceptance
47%
Graduation
75%
Student body
3K
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Clark University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$49K
Acceptance
41%
Graduation
79%
Student body
5K
Median SAT/ACT
1305/29
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Emerson College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$55K
Acceptance
38%
Graduation
93%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1345/30
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College of the Holy Cross’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$44K
Acceptance
69%
Graduation
82%
Student body
3K
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Stonehill College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$55K
Acceptance
77%
Graduation
78%
Student body
2K
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Wheaton College ’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$29K
Acceptance
84%
Graduation
60%
Student body
4K
Median SAT/ACT
1105/23
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Lesley University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$52K
Acceptance
58%
Graduation
90%
Student body
5K
Median SAT/ACT
1320/29
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Bentley University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$39K
Acceptance
68%
Graduation
72%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1185/25
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Gordon College ’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$10K
Acceptance
92%
Graduation
85%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1100/21
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Massachusetts Maritime Academy’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$39K
Acceptance
63%
Graduation
73%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1120/23
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Springfield College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$38K
Acceptance
89%
Graduation
64%
Student body
3K
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Western New England University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$41K
Acceptance
76%
Graduation
62%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1170/24
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Emmanuel College ’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$35K
Acceptance
94%
Graduation
69%
Student body
6K
Median SAT/ACT
1165/25
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Wentworth Institute of Technology’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$43K
Acceptance
82%
Graduation
74%
Student body
5K
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Merrimack College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$11K
Acceptance
88%
Graduation
53%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1065/22
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Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$34K
Acceptance
70%
Graduation
79%
Student body
5K
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Endicott College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$37K
Acceptance
70%
Graduation
64%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1050/21
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Elms College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$35K
Acceptance
78%
Graduation
60%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1065/22
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Bay Path University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$42K
Acceptance
81%
Graduation
73%
Student body
2K
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Assumption University ’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$37K
Acceptance
85%
Graduation
62%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1075/22
View profile
Lasell University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
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