Map of the land owned or leased by colleges and universities in the Boston area as of 2021[update] This is alist of colleges and universities in metropolitan Boston . Some are located withinBoston proper while some are located in neighboring cities and towns, but all are within the128 /95 /1 loop. This is closer to the "inner core" definition ofMetropolitan Boston , which excludes more suburban North Shore, South Shore and MetroWest regions. Although larger institutions may have several schools, some of which are located in cities other than that of the main campus (such asHarvard Medical School andTufts University School of Medicine ), each institution is listed only once and location is determined by the site of each institution's maincampus . Three universities—Harvard andMIT inCambridge , as well asTufts inSomerville —make up the "brainpower triangle" of greater Boston, a region defined by universities that have a large local and national influence.[ 1]
There are a total of 44 institutions of higher education in the defined region, including threejunior colleges , 11 colleges that primarily grantbaccalaureate andmaster's degrees , eightresearch universities , and 22special-focus institutions . Of these, 39 areprivate ventures while five arepublic institutions (four are run by thestate ofMassachusetts and one is operated by thecity ofQuincy ).
In 2024,enrollment at these colleges and universities ranged from 43 students atBoston Baptist College to 37,737 students atBoston University . The first to be founded wasHarvard University , also the oldest institution of higher education in the United States, while the most recently established institution isSattler College . All but five of these schools areaccredited by theNew England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE).
Name Location Control[ 2] Classification[ 2] Enrollment[ 3] Founded[ a] NECHE-accredited[ 4] Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology Boston Private Special-focus 744 1908 2006 Bentley University Waltham Private Master's 5,333 1917 1966 Berklee College of Music Boston Private Special-focus 8,369 1945 1973 Boston Architectural College Boston Private Special-focus 853 1889 1991 Boston Baptist College Milton Private Special-focus 43 1976 Boston College Newton Private Research 15,432 1863 1935 Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis Brookline Private Special-focus 169 1973 1996 Boston University Boston Private Research 37,737 1839 1929 Brandeis University Waltham Private Research 5,205 1948 1953 Bunker Hill Community College Boston Public Associate's 9,876 1973 1976 Cambridge College Boston Private Master's 1,835 1971 1981 Curry College Milton Private Baccalaureate 1,994 1879 1970 Eastern Nazarene College Quincy Private Baccalaureate 60 1900 1943 Emerson College Boston Private Master's 5,263 1880 1950 Emmanuel College Boston Private Baccalaureate 1,983 1919 1933 Fisher College Boston Private Baccalaureate 1,652 1903 1970 Harvard University Cambridge Private Research 30,259 1636 1929 Hebrew College Newton Private Special-focus 163 1921 1955 Hellenic College and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology Brookline Private Special-focus 274 1937 1974 Hult International Business School Cambridge Private Special-focus 2,008 1964 1976 Labouré College Milton Private Special-focus 530 1892 2005 Lasell University Newton Private Baccalaureate 1,668 1851 1932 Lesley University Cambridge Private Master's 2,557 1909 1952 Longy School of Music of Bard College Cambridge Private Special-focus 317 1915 Massachusetts College of Art and Design Boston Public Special-focus 1,989 1873 1954 Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Boston Private Special-focus 5,945 1823 1974 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge Private Research 11,886 1861 1929 MGH Institute of Health Professions Boston Private Special-focus 1,672 1977 1985 New England College of Optometry Boston Private Special-focus 515 1894 1976 New England Conservatory Boston Private Special-focus 853 1867 1951 New England Law | Boston Boston Private Special-focus 1,131 1938 North Bennet Street School Boston Private Special-focus 155 1881 Northeastern University Boston Private Research 32,553 1898 1940 Quincy College Quincy Public Associate's 3,022 1958 1980 Roxbury Community College Boston Public Associate's 2,044 1973 1981 Saint John's Seminary Boston Private Special-focus 86 1884 1969 Sattler College Boston Private Special-focus 57 2016 Simmons University Boston Private Master's 4,666 1899 1929 Suffolk University Boston Private Master's 6,356 1906 1952 Tufts University Medford Private Research 13,599 1852 1929 University of Massachusetts Boston Boston Public Research 15,575 1964 1972 Urban College of Boston Boston Private Special-focus 868 1993 2001 Wentworth Institute of Technology Boston Private Special-focus 4,191 1904 1967 William James College Newton Private Special-focus 967 1974 1984
^ Founding year is institutionally determined. It may differ from the institution's charter year, the year it became an institution of higher education, or the year it took its current name.
