Massachusetts: aid after freshman year
Four-year colleges in Massachusetts, ranked by the gap between the average freshman grant and the average grant in later years.
Official price reports: UMass Amherst
We have IPEDS 2022-23 grant data for 64 four-year colleges in Massachusetts. At 57 of them, the average grant for continuing undergraduates was lower than the average freshman grant. The median gap was $1,945 per recipient, compared with $1,064 nationally.
The largest gaps: Bay Path University ($18,742), Northeastern University ($15,148), Harvard University ($11,456). Median gap at public colleges: $1,135 (14 colleges); at private nonprofits: $2,485 (50 colleges).
Explain the numbers
- Freshman grant: total grant aid to first-time, full-time freshmen divided by the number who got grants (2022-23).
- Later years: the same average for all other degree-seeking undergraduates who got grants, including transfers and part-time students.
- Drop: freshman average minus later-years average. Above zero means later-year recipients averaged less. In Massachusetts, 57 of 64 colleges are above zero and 57 meet our traditional 4-year filter.
- Median: half of the colleges in Massachusetts have a smaller drop than $1,945, half larger.
- IPEDS data runs about two years behind; current-year prices come from state reports where available.
Averages across recipients, not a prediction for one student. Colleges with large part-time or online enrollment are marked; read the methodology. See 2026-27 published costs for this state.
| # | College | Drop |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bay Path University Longmeadow · Private · large part-time/online share | $18,742 |
| 2 | Northeastern University Boston · Private | $15,148 |
| 3 | Harvard University Cambridge · Private | $11,456 |
| 4 | MCPHS University Boston · Private | $9,797 |
| 5 | Fisher College Boston · Private · large part-time/online share | $9,669 |
| 6 | College of Our Lady of the Elms Chicopee · Private | $7,152 |
| 7 | Regis College Weston · Private | $6,664 |
| 8 | Boston College Chestnut Hill · Private | $5,545 |
| 9 | Lasell University Newton · Private | $5,508 |
| 10 | Stonehill College Easton · Private | $5,282 |
| 11 | Boston University Boston · Private | $4,832 |
| 12 | Hampshire College Amherst · Private | $4,802 |
| 13 | Suffolk University Boston · Private | $4,384 |
| 14 | Massachusetts Maritime Academy Buzzards Bay · Public | $4,364 |
| 15 | Hult International Business School Cambridge · Private | $3,962 |
| 16 | Curry College Milton · Private | $3,924 |
| 17 | Wellesley College Wellesley · Private | $3,733 |
| 18 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge · Private | $3,462 |
| 19 | Merrimack College North Andover · Private | $3,161 |
| 20 | Dean College Franklin · Private | $2,990 |
| 21 | American International College Springfield · Private | $2,946 |
| 22 | Lesley University Cambridge · Private · large part-time/online share | $2,900 |
| 23 | Wheaton College (Massachusetts) Norton · Private | $2,736 |
| 24 | Emmanuel College Boston · Private | $2,640 |
| 25 | Massachusetts College of Art and Design Boston · Public | $2,557 |
| 26 | Simmons University Boston · Private | $2,531 |
| 27 | Nichols College Dudley · Private | $2,520 |
| 28 | Anna Maria College Paxton · Private | $2,450 |
| 29 | Amherst College Amherst · Private | $2,438 |
| 30 | Western New England University Springfield · Private | $2,139 |
| 31 | Babson College Wellesley · Private | $2,138 |
| 32 | Clark University Worcester · Private | $1,956 |
| 33 | Assumption University Worcester · Private | $1,934 |
| 34 | Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology Boston · Private · large part-time/online share | $1,919 |
| 35 | Quincy College Quincy · Public · large part-time/online share | $1,879 |
| 36 | University of Massachusetts-Lowell Lowell · Public | $1,837 |
| 37 | Bentley University Waltham · Private | $1,596 |
| 38 | Wentworth Institute of Technology Boston · Private | $1,577 |
| 39 | University of Massachusetts-Boston Boston · Public | $1,575 |
| 40 | Franklin W Olin College of Engineering Needham · Private | $1,482 |
| 41 | Westfield State University Westfield · Public | $1,323 |
| 42 | Emerson College Boston · Private | $1,299 |
| 43 | Williams College Williamstown · Private | $1,272 |
| 44 | Bridgewater State University Bridgewater · Public | $1,255 |
| 45 | Smith College Northampton · Private | $1,123 |
| 46 | University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth North Dartmouth · Public | $1,015 |
| 47 | Berklee College of Music Boston · Private | $976 |
| 48 | College of the Holy Cross Worcester · Private | $976 |
| 49 | Worcester State University Worcester · Public · large part-time/online share | $964 |
| 50 | Springfield College Springfield · Private | $915 |
| 51 | Endicott College Beverly · Private | $912 |
| 52 | Fitchburg State University Fitchburg · Public · large part-time/online share | $672 |
| 53 | Montserrat College of Art Beverly · Private | $605 |
| 54 | Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts North Adams · Public | $493 |
| 55 | University of Massachusetts-Amherst Amherst · Public | $448 |
| 56 | Gordon College Wenham · Private | $210 |
| 57 | Eastern Nazarene College Quincy · Private | $187 |
| 58 | Salem State University Salem · Public | −$47 |
| 59 | Framingham State University Framingham · Public | −$74 |
| 60 | Tufts University Medford · Private | −$93 |
| 61 | Mount Holyoke College South Hadley · Private | −$556 |
| 62 | Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester · Private | −$754 |
| 63 | Brandeis University Waltham · Private | −$849 |
| 64 | Bard College at Simon's Rock Great Barrington · Private | −$3,354 |
Source: IPEDS SFA 2022-23.
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