Most Affordable Private Colleges in Massachusetts
Private nonprofit colleges rarely cost what their price tags say. Among the 47 we rank in Massachusetts, the average net price runs from $14,271 to $49,465 a year, a range of $35,194.
The median net price is $29,618, $5,758 (24%) above the national median of $23,860 for private nonprofit colleges. Median tuition and fees are $52,040, but the median net price, which also counts room, board and books after grants, is $29,618, so aid more than covers the housing and living costs added on top of tuition.
Bay Path University ranks first at $14,271, ahead of College of Our Lady of the Elms ($17,545) and Williams College ($17,716).
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- Private nonprofit 4-year colleges whose main award is the bachelor's degree
- Ranked by net price, lowest first. Ties are broken by larger undergraduate enrollment, then by name.
- Main campuses only, with at least 60% of core data fields reported
- Main campus located in Massachusetts
- At least 500 undergraduate students enrolled (fall 2024)
- A reported net price value (schools without one are not ranked)
- This page is published only when at least 15 schools qualify; Massachusetts has 47
- Data period
- Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
- Tuition and fees: full-time undergraduate sticker price, academic year 2024-25 (the same for in-state and out-of-state students).
- Net price by income: students with family income of $0 to $30,000, academic year 2023-24.
- Graduation rate: first-time, full-time students who started in fall 2018 (4-year) or fall 2021 (2-year), finishing within 150% of normal time.
- Earnings: median earnings four years after completing, measured in 2022 and 2023 for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 cohorts, in 2024 dollars.
- Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, June 2026 release.
Showing all 47 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | Bay Path University Longmeadow, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $14,271 | $38,302 | $11,948 | 51% | $62,912 |
| 2 | College of Our Lady of the Elms Chicopee, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $17,545 | $43,325 | $8,099 | 66% | $64,421 |
| 3 | Williams College Williamstown, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $17,716 | $68,560 | — | 95% | $80,487 |
| 4 | Harvard University Cambridge, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $19,066 | $61,676 | $8,697 | 97% | $134,794 |
| 5 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $20,111 | $62,396 | — | 96% | $161,961 |
| 6 | American International College Springfield, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $23,274 | $44,230 | $24,437 | 44% | $71,565 |
| 7 | Amherst College Amherst, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $23,367 | $70,480 | $1,086 | 94% | $79,243 |
| 8 | Hampshire College Amherst, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $24,034 | $58,896 | $13,749 | 56% | $36,500 |
| 9 | Boston University Boston, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $24,402 | $68,102 | $9,500 | 89% | $83,615 |
| 10 | Gordon College Wenham, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $24,883 | $30,700 | $21,829 | 68% | $57,638 |
| 11 | Simmons University Boston, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $25,265 | $46,874 | $18,027 | 72% | $73,823 |
| 12 | Wellesley College Wellesley, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $25,496 | $67,176 | $2,546 | 91% | $72,449 |
| 13 | Mount Holyoke College South Hadley, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $26,441 | $67,018 | $10,882 | 85% | $54,450 |
| 14 | Fisher College Boston, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $26,649 | $35,689 | $25,071 | 28% | $57,557 |
| 15 | Emmanuel College Boston, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $26,706 | $48,550 | $20,399 | 67% | $63,280 |
| 16 | Western New England University Springfield, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $27,290 | $47,820 | $20,726 | 64% | $76,928 |
| 17 | Regis College Weston, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $27,477 | $49,680 | $21,415 | 71% | $84,660 |
| 18 | Lasell University Newton, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $27,511 | $27,040 | $18,334 | 56% | $58,411 |
| 19 | Smith College Northampton, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $27,579 | $65,178 | $1,363 | 89% | $57,618 |
| 20 | Anna Maria College Paxton, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $28,333 | $44,571 | $25,554 | 44% | $74,347 |
| 21 | Clark University Worcester, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $28,714 | $58,867 | $18,188 | 77% | $63,965 |
| 22 | Curry College Milton, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $29,207 | $47,970 | $23,806 | 50% | $72,447 |
| 23 | Assumption University Worcester, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $29,498 | $51,356 | $19,885 | 75% | $67,745 |
| 24 | Suffolk University Boston, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $29,618 | $47,550 | $24,745 | 60% | $74,456 |
| 25 | Wheaton College (Massachusetts) Norton, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $29,822 | $63,960 | $20,076 | 74% | $57,982 |
| 26 | Springfield College Springfield, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $30,587 | $45,174 | $22,519 | 71% | $60,428 |
| 27 | Dean College Franklin, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $30,684 | $46,526 | $26,996 | 48% | $41,151 |
| 28 | Northeastern University Boston, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $30,915 | $66,162 | $2,264 | 90% | $101,903 |
| 29 | Cambridge College Boston, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $31,072 | $18,378 | — | — | $61,712 |
| 30 | Lesley University Cambridge, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $31,152 | $34,256 | $24,799 | 60% | $55,117 |
| 31 | Stonehill College Easton, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $33,016 | $57,490 | $23,605 | 78% | $73,137 |
| 32 | Nichols College Dudley, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $33,036 | $42,705 | $22,054 | 63% | $64,532 |
| 33 | Wentworth Institute of Technology Boston, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $34,170 | $42,884 | $27,018 | 68% | $95,027 |
| 34 | Brandeis University Waltham, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $35,736 | $68,080 | $13,363 | 86% | $76,742 |
| 35 | Laboure College of Healthcare Milton, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $36,863 | $30,618 | — | — | $90,473 |
| 36 | Merrimack College North Andover, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $37,927 | $53,962 | $31,710 | 71% | $65,506 |
| 37 | Bentley University Waltham, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $37,930 | $61,000 | $21,196 | 88% | $108,577 |
| 38 | College of the Holy Cross Worcester, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $38,782 | $64,500 | $14,343 | 88% | $84,553 |
| 39 | Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Boston, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $39,545 | $40,530 | $35,206 | 63% | $93,192 |
| 40 | Tufts University Medford, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $39,998 | $70,704 | $11,284 | 93% | $97,474 |
| 41 | Babson College Wellesley, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $40,514 | $57,152 | $23,641 | 93% | $117,794 |
| 42 | Endicott College Beverly, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $40,654 | $40,650 | $29,780 | 76% | $69,414 |
| 43 | Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $41,704 | $70,702 | $4,284 | 91% | $96,145 |
| 44 | Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $43,071 | $60,965 | $24,018 | 89% | $105,724 |
| 45 | Hult International Business School Cambridge, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $45,447 | $57,160 | $43,305 | 66% | $75,197 |
| 46 | Emerson College Boston, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $49,180 | $57,056 | $32,650 | 78% | $55,925 |
| 47 | Berklee College of Music Boston, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $49,465 | $52,040 | $42,734 | 67% | $41,028 |
How to compare these colleges
Do not rule out a private college because of its sticker price. Private colleges often discount heavily, and the net price shown here is what students who receive aid pay on average, including housing and books. Your own offer depends on your family income and the school's aid policy, so run each college's net price calculator and compare actual award letters.
Guides worth reading first
More lists for Massachusetts
Cheapest colleges in Massachusetts
59 schools
Cheap colleges in Massachusetts for out-of-state students
29 schools
Community colleges in Massachusetts
16 schools
Best value colleges in Massachusetts
54 schools
Highest graduate earnings in Massachusetts
61 schools
Same list in nearby states
Most affordable private colleges in New York
78 schools
Most affordable private colleges in Pennsylvania
70 schools
Most affordable private colleges in California
50 schools
All 84 colleges in Massachusetts See the national version of this ranking