These MA Colleges Earned Top Score On New National Ranking

MASSACHUSETTS — Several Massachusetts colleges have been named to Money’s 2025 Best Colleges in America ratings, which focuses on institutions that are affordable, have strong academic programs and give graduates a strong shot at a good salary after graduation.

Money said its 11th annual ratings can give families of college-bound students some control in the uncertain landscape and help them find a college they can afford, with the academic programs and campus culture they want.

See Also: New School Rankings Put MA Among Nation's Leaders—See Where It Ranked

The 732 colleges are those where students are most likely to graduate and land jobs, Money said.

Schools from Massachusetts include:

Amherst College, Amherst
Star rating: 4.5
Acceptance rate: 10 percent
Estimated full cost, 2025-2026: $90,950
Estimated price with average aid: $19,100
Graduation rate: 92 percent

Assumption University, Worcester
Star rating: 4
Acceptance rate: 87 percent
Estimated full cost, 2025-2026: $69,900
Estimated price with average aid: $30,090
Graduation rate: 71 percent

Babson College, Wellesley
Star rating: 5
Acceptance rate: 20 percent
Estimated full cost, 2025-2026: $83,220
Estimated price with average aid: $32,100
Graduation rate: 92 percent

Bentley University, Waltham
Star rating: 4.5
Acceptance rate: 10 percent
Estimated full cost, 2025-2026: $90,950
Estimated price with average aid: $19,100
Graduation rate: 92 percent

Boston College, Chestnut Hill
Star rating: 4.5
Acceptance rate: 16 percent
Estimated full cost, 2025-2026: $92,990
Estimated price with average aid: $34,600
Graduation rate: 92 percent

Boston University, Boston
Star rating: 4.5
Acceptance rate: 11 percent
Estimated full cost, 2025-2026: $89,620
Estimated price with average aid: $29,200
Graduation rate: 88 percent

Money looks at about two dozen data points to assemble the final lists, which were weighted by affordability (40 percent) and quality of education and outcomes, including post-graduation salaries (30 percent each).
Money said its ranking comes as the Trump administration reshapes higher education, including cuts to research grant funding, increased taxes on endowment, shrinking federal funding for some college access programs, and a crackdown on international student enrollment. The recently signed budget bill also makes changes to federal Pell grants and overhauls student loans.

“The volume of higher ed news right now is, frankly, overwhelming,” Marc Zawel, who cofounded the admissions consulting company AcceptU in 2009, told Money. “There’s a lot of noise that [students are] trying to work through to make sense of what actually affects them.”

Go here to see all rankings.

Related:

• Here's Where Massachusetts Ranks On List Of Most-Educated States
• This MA College Is The 2nd Best In The Country, Wall Street Journal Says
• These Are MA's 50 Best Public High Schools, New Ranking Says
• Forbes Names 20 Colleges ‘New Ivies,’ Notes Employers Prefer Them