thumb|right|Massachusetts Hall at [[Harvard University|alt=A red brick building at Harvard University]]
thumb|right|[[Old Chapel (Amherst, Massachusetts)|Old Chapel at the University of Massachusetts Amherst with the W. E. B. Du Bois Library in the background|alt=A building with a steeple in the foreground with a brick-clad structure in the brackground]]
There are 100 colleges and universities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that are listed under the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Of Massachusetts post-secondary institutions, 93 are officially recognized by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), while most are accredited by multiple higher education accreditation agencies.
These institutions include fourteen research universities, twenty-one master's universities, and thirty-four special-focus institutions. Eighty-five of Massachusetts' post-secondary institutions are private, of which five are for-profit. Thirty of the state's post-secondary institutions are public, a number which excludes the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which was founded by the Morrill Land-Grant Acts, but later became a private institution.
Harvard University is the state's oldest post-secondary institution, having been founded in 1636. Boston University is the state's largest institution of higher learning in terms of enrollment, having 36,624 students in the fall of 2023 while Conway School of Landscape Design is the state's smallest college with an enrollment of 18. The University of Massachusetts Amherst is the state's largest public university, with an enrollment of 28,518 students. Massachusetts is also home to a number of internationally recognized universities, including Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which are ranked among the top ten universities in the world.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is the state's sole public land-grant university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Massachusetts system. There are also eleven Catholic post-secondary institutions, including Boston College, the College of the Holy Cross, Merrimack College and Stonehill College. There are also two Judaic post-secondary institutions in Massachusetts, Brandeis University and Hebrew College. The state has four medical schools: Boston University School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and Tufts University School of Medicine. There are eight law schools which are accredited by the American Bar Association and one, Massachusetts School of Law, which is not ABA accredited but instead accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.
Current institutions
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:left;"
|-
|+ List of active institutions
|-
! scope="col" | School
! scope="col" | Location
! scope="col" | Control
! scope="col" | Founded
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Accreditation
|-
!scope="row" | American International College
| Springfield
| Private not-for-profit
| Master's university
| align="center" |2,037
| align="center" |1885
| align="center" |AOTA, APTA, CCNE, NECHE
| align="center" |NECHE
| align="center" |NECHE, CCNE
| align="center" |NECHE
| align="center" |AOTA, CCNE, NECHE
| align="center" |NECHE
| align="center" |NECHE
| align="center" |NECHE
| align="center" |APTA, ACEN, NECHE
| align="center" |NECHE
| align="center" |TRACS
|-
!scope="row" | Boston College
| Chestnut Hill
| Private not-for-profit
| Research university
| align="center" |15,234
| align="center" |1863
| align="center" | AANA, ABA, APA, ATS, CNE, NECHE
| align="center" |NECHE
| align="center" |ABA, ADA, ACEND, AOTA, APTA, APA, ASHA, ATS, CEA, CEPH, LCME, NASM, NECHE
| align="center" |1948
| align="center" |NECHE
| align="center" |1840
| align="center" |ASHA, NECHE
| align="center" |ACEN, ADA, AOTA, COMTA, NECHE
| align="center" |ACEN, CEA, JRCERT, NECHE
| align="center" |NECHE
| align="center" |ACEN, ADA, NECHE
| align="center" |1887
| align="center" |APA, NECHE
| align="center" |1843
| align="center" |NECHE
| align="center" |CCNE, NECHE
| align="center" |NECHE
| align="center" |CCNE, NECHE
| align="center" |ASHA, NECHE,
| align="center" |1919
| align="center" |CCNE, NECHE
| align="center" | ACEN, CCNE, NECHE
| align="center" | American Board of Funeral Service Education
| align="center" | NECHE
| align="center" | CCNE, NECHE
| align="center" |1839
| align="center" | ACEN, ACEND, CCNE, NECHE, NLNAC
| align="center" | NECHE
| align="center" | ATS, NECHE
| align="center" | ACEN, COMTA, NECHE
| align="center" |NECHE
| align="center" | ABA, ADA, APA, ATS, CEPH, LCME, NECHE
| align="center" | NECHE
| align="center" | ATS, NECHE
| align="center" | ACEN, JRCERT, NECHE
| align="center" |NECHE
| align="center" |
ACEND, ACEN, CCNE, JRCERT, NECHE
| align="center" |1851
| align="center" | NECHE
| align="center" |NECHE
| align="center" |NASM
|-
!scope="row" | Massachusetts Bay Community College
| Wellesley
| Public
| Associate's college
| align="center" | 4,578
| align="center" |1961
| align="center" |NECHE
| align="center" |NASAD, NECHE
| align="center" | JRCERT, NECHE
| align="center" | ACAHM, ACPE, ADA, CCNE, CEPH, JRCERT, NECHE
| align="center" |NECHE
| align="center" |NECHE
| align="center" |NECHE
| align="center" | ACEN, JRCERT, NECHE
| align="center" | ACEND, CCNE, NECHE
| align="center" | ACEN, AOTA, APTA, ASHA, CCNE, JRCERT, NECHE
| align="center" | JRCERT, NECHE
| align="center" | NASAD, NECHE
| align="center" |NECHE
| align="center" | ACEN, ADA, COMTA, NECHE
| align="center" | AOA, NECHE
| align="center" |NASM, NECHE
| align="center" |ABA
| align="center" | NECHE
| align="center" | ACEN, AOTA, APTA, JRCERT, NECHE
| align="center" |ABA, ACPE, APTA, APA, ASHA, CCNE, CANAEP, CEPH, NECHE
| align="center" |NECHE
| align="center" |ABHE
| align="center" | NECHE
| align="center" |1964
| align="center" |ATS
| align="center" | ACEN, NECHE
| align="center" | ACEN, ADA, AOTA, JRCERT, NECHE
| align="center" | ACEN, ADA, AOTA, ASHA, NECHE
| align="center" | ACEN, JRCERT, NECHE
| align="center" | ATS, NECHE
| align="center" | TRACS
|-
!scope="row" | Salem State University
| Salem
| Public
|| Master's university
| align="center" | 6,230
| align="center" | 1854
| align="center" | ACEN, AOTA, CCNE, NECHE
| align="center" | ACEND, APTA, CCNE, CEPH, NECHE
| align="center" | 1875
| align="center" |NECHE
| align="center" |AOTA, APA, APTA, NECHE
| align="center" | ACEN, ADA, AOTA, APTA, COMTA, JRCERT, NECHE
| align="center" |NECHE
| align="center" | 1906
| align="center" |ABA, APA, JRCERT, NECHE
| align="center" |AOTA, AVMA, NECHE
| align="center" |1863
| align="center" | 1964
| align="center" | APA, CCNE, NECHE
| align="center" | ACEN, CCNE, NECHE
|-
!scope="row" | University of Massachusetts Medical School
| Worcester
| Public
| Special-focus institution
| align="center" | 1,489
| align="center" | 1962
| align="center" | CCNE, JRCERT, LCME, NECHE
| align="center" |NECHE
| align="center" |1875
| align="center" |NECHE
| align="center" |NECHE
| align="center" |ABA, ACPE, AOTA, NECHE
| align="center" | CCNE, NECHE
| align="center" | NECHE
| align="center" |APA, NECHE
| align="center" | 1793
| align="center" | NECHE
| align="center" | 1865
| align="center" | NECHE
| align="center" | ACEN, AOTA, ASHA, CCNE, NECHE
- Boston Islamic Seminary — Boston
- Knowles Johnson Institute of Graduate Studies - Rockport
Defunct institutions
thumb|right|Campus of [[Bradford College (United States)|Bradford Academy, ca. 1905|alt=A colored postcard of a red brick building]]
At least eighty-two colleges and universities have closed in Massachusetts, beginning with Worcester Medical Institute in 1859. Defunct institutes include multiple private institutions, and the public Hyannis State Teachers College. Many schools were also merged into modern public universities, which form the origins of the Boston, Dartmouth, and Lowell campuses of the University of Massachusetts system. Many of these were private institutions, which either merged with private institutions and ceased to grant degrees, or institutions like the Swedenborg School of Religion, which merged with the Pacific School of Religion upon its relocation to California. The Bible Normal School was founded in Massachusetts but moved to Connecticut before it was merged into the Hartford Seminary. However, this excludes institutions which operated as part of for-profit corporations incorporated in other states, such as Empire Beauty Schools and the University of Phoenix, as they were not operated as separate college campuses and operated more as corporate entities.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:left; font-size:90%;"
|-
|+ List of defunct institutions in Massachusetts
|-
! scope="col" style="width:300px;"| School
|-
!scope="row" | Andover Theological Seminary
|-
!scope="row" | Andover Junior College
|-
!scope="row" | Andover Institute of Business
|-
!scope="row" | Andover Newton Theological Seminary
|-
!scope="row" | Anna Maria College
|-
!scope="row" | Aquinas College
|-
!scope="row" | ArsDigita University
|-
!scope="row" | Art Institute of Boston
|-
!scope="row" | Atlantic Union College
|-
!Bard College at Simon's Rock
(moved to Barrytown, New York in Fall 2025)
|-
!scope="row" | Bay State College
|-
!scope="row" | Becker College
|-
!scope="row" | Berkshire Christian College
|-
!scope="row" | Berkshire Medical College
|-
!scope="row" | Boston Business School
|-
!scope="row" | Boston Female Medical School
|-
!scope="row" | Boston State College
|-
!scope="row" | Bouvé College
|-
!scope="row" | Bradford College
|-
!scope="row" | Bradford Durfee College of Technology
|-
!scope="row" | Bryant & Stratton Business Institute
|-
!scope="row" | Bryant McIntosh College
|-
!scope="row" | Burdett College
|-
!scope="row" | Bussey Institution
|-
!scope="row" | Calvin Coolidge College
|-
!scope="row" | Cambridge Junior College
|-
!scope="row" | Campbell School
|-
!scope="row" | Cardinal Cushing College
|-
!scope="row" | Cardinal O'Connell Seminary
|-
!scope="row" | Cape Cod Hospital School of Nursing
|-
!scope="row" | Central New England College
|-
!scope="row" | Chamberlayne Junior College
|-
!scope="row" | Chandler School for Women
|-
!scope="row" | College of Physicians and Surgeons
|-
!scope="row" | College of Saint Joseph
|-
!scope="row" | Comers Commercial College
|-
!scope="row" | Coyne School of Technical Electricity
|-
!scope="row" | Crane Theological School
|-
!scope="row" | Divine Providence Institute
|-
!scope="row" | Eastern Nazarene College
|-
!scope="row" | Episcopal Divinity School
|-
!scope="row" | Garland Junior College
|-
!scope="row" | Grahm Junior College
|-
!scope="row" | Hallmark Institute of Photography
|-
!scope="row" | Hampden College of Pharmacy
|-
!scope="row" | Holliston Junior College
|-
!scope="row" | Hyannis State Teachers College
|-
!scope="row" | Ipswich Female Seminary
|-
!scope="row" | Kinyon-Campbell Business School
|-
!scope="row" | Kinyon School
|-
!scope="row" | LaFosse Teacher Training College
|-
!scope="row" | Lay College
|-
!scope="row" | Leicester Junior College
|-
!scope="row" | Lowell State College
|-
!scope="row" | Lowell Technological Institute
|-
!scope="row" | Marian Court College
|-
!scope="row" | Marist College and Seminary
|-
!scope="row" | Massachusetts College of Osteopathy
|-
!scope="row" | Middlesex University
|-
!scope="row" | Monroe College of Oratory
|-
!scope="row" | Mount Alvernia College
|-
!scope="row" | Mount Ida College
|-
!scope="row" | New Bedford Institute of Technology
|-
!scope="row" | New England Female Medical College
|-
!scope="row" | New England Institute of Applied Funeral Arts and Sciences
|-
!scope="row" | New England Institute of Art
|-
!scope="row" | New England School of Photography
|-
!scope="row" | Newbury College
|-
!scope="row" | Newton College of the Sacred Heart
|-
!scope="row" | Newton Junior College
|-
!scope="row" | Newton Theological Institution
|-
!scope="row" | Northampton Junior College
|-
!scope="row" | Oblate College & Seminary
|-
!scope="row" | Oread Institute
|-
!scope="row" | Our Lady of Sorrows
|-
!scope="row" | Perry Normal School
|-
!scope="row" | Pine Manor College
|-
!scope="row" | Queen of Apostles Seminary
|-
!scope="row" | Radcliffe College
|-
!scope="row" | Regina Coeli College
|-
!scope="row" | Revere Lay College
|-
!scope="row" | Sacred Heart College for Teachers
|-
!scope="row" | Saint Gabriel's Institute
|-
!scope="row" | Saint Hyacinth College & Seminary
|-
!scope="row" | Saint Joseph Teacher Training Institute
|-
!scope="row" | Saint Paul's House of Studies
|-
!scope="row" | Saint Stephen's College
|-
!scope="row" | School for Christian Workers
|-
!School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
|-
!scope="row" | Southern New England School of Law
|-
!scope="row" | Staley School of the Spoken Word
|-
!scope="row" | Stanley College
|-
!scope="row" | Stevens College
|-
!scope="row" | Swain School of Design
|-
!scope="row" | Swedenborg School of Religion
|-
!scope="row" | Vesper George School of Art
|-
!scope="row" | Wang Institute of Graduate Studies
|-
!scope="row" | Wheelock College
|-
!scope="row" | Winter Hill Business College
|-
!scope="row" | Worcester Junior College
|-
!scope="row" | Worcester Medical Institute
|-
!scope="row" | Worcester Technical Institute
|}
Forbes National Rankings
The Forbes National Colleges Ranking is a ranking system for the best four-year colleges in the United States. These colleges are ranked for their alumni salary, debt, return on investment, graduation rate, membership in Forbes honors lists such as Forbes 30 Under 30, student retention, and academic achievement. As of 2026, Forbes recognizes the University of Massachusetts Amherst as the flagship public university and Massachusetts Institute of Technology as the flagship private university in Massachusetts.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Forbes Massachusetts Public Rankings
|-
! MA*
! Forbes
! Institution
|-
| 1
| 152
| UMass Amherst
|-
| 2
| 348
| UMass Lowell
|-
| 3
| 356
| Mass Maritime
|-
| 4
| 444
| UMass Boston
|-
|colspan="3"| *State rankings based on Forbes ranking
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Forbes Massachusetts Private Rankings