Massachusetts College Now Costs $95K a Year – Others Over $90K!
College has gotten out of control expensive. The system needs change. That’s the opinion of me, a father of two daughters – one of whom is a junior in high…
College has gotten out of control expensive. The system needs change. That's the opinion of me, a father of two daughters - one of whom is a junior in high school who is weighing her collegiate options currently. Colleges are releasing their estimated costs of attendance for the 2024/2025 school year and... many schools are crossing a new threshold this year: cost of attendance passing $90,000 a year. Ouch.
How much does Tufts University cost?
Tufts University cost of attendance for the 2024/2025 school year came in at an estimated $95,888! Quick iPhone calculator math shows that over four years that adds up to $383,552!! That's a whole heck of a lot of debt for a newly graduated person entering the workforce for the first time. Good luck out there, kid!
$95,888 covers tuition (and fees) and living costs (housing, food, and school text books). Obviously, if the student needs more time to graduate or seeks additional schooling to advance their degree that price tag keeps ticking up.
I don't mean this to be a slam on Tufts. Plenty of other schools are way up there with them in the $90K+ Club. Locally, Boston University and Yale are also over $90,000 a year for the 2024/2025 school year. I also don't write this article thinking that it'll change a thing. The system is much bigger than any page views this article gets. What I am hoping though is to be one small piece of dust in a growing dust ball which will finally somehow see needed change in college prices for students. How a dust ball will do that I have no idea. I'm just spitballing here. lol
I feel awful knowing that I can't pay for my daughters' schooling. There's just no way that I can take on hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt when I, like so many, just struggle to make ends meet. I feel even more awful thinking that my girls will have to start their professional adult lives buried in so much financial pressure. I will help as much as I can... but I feel powerless. Which as a parent wanting to help their kids, is heartbreaking.
I know there are scholarships and financial aid but something needs to change. I just read a story about a 71 year-old retired woman who still has $108,000 in college loan debt! She took out a $30,000 loan to go to school but over the years, due to interest, it has grown to $108,000. Maybe she should go back to school so she can get a second job to help pay that. I kid.
In the meantime, my daughter needs to go to college in a year and a half so everything I have is for sale. Make an offer, then multiply that offer by a million and we probably have a deal. I need a lot of money...
The Best Colleges in The U.S. have been ranked according to the Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal does the rankings annually and they are based on data, which rates the top 400 universities in the country, obtained in collaboration with College Pulse and Statista. The rankings are based on three main categories: student outcomes (70%), learning environment (20%), and diversity (10%). After doing the research and crunching all of the numbers, one Massachusetts school ranked #2 while three others ranked in the top 10.
MIT was ranked #2 nationwide with a total score of 90.4. MIT was also ranked #2 according to U.S. News & World Report. Their rankings are based on cost, student to teacher ratio, academics, diversity, campus life and more. Moving back to the Wall Street Journal rankings, Harvard University was next in the nationwide ranking coming in #6 nationwide. Harvard received a score of 89.5 on the Wall Street Journal list. The other two schools that placed in the top 10 nationwide are Amherst College and Babson College. They came in at #8 and #10 respectively.
Now in regards to locally here in Massachusetts, we are going to show you the top 11 ranked schools that are here in the state. Now again, this is according to the Wall Street Journal's findings as different outlets do their own rankings each year. And if your child goes to one of these schools, they can consider themselves lucky. Student outcomes, learning environment and diversity are thriving at each of these schools. It should be mentioned too that another New England school ranked in the top 10 (third place actually). Yale University in Connecticut placed third with a score of 90.3. So, let's run down the list of the top schools in Massachusetts according to the Wall Street Journal. Let us also remind you this list is for the year 2024. Congratulations to the schools on the list.
#11 Northeastern University, Boston (No. 138 nationally)
Pebbles' alma mater. Northeastern was originally called the Evening Institute of Young Men, and was founded in association with YMCA in 1898.Its sports arena, Matthews, is the oldest hockey arena in the world.
#10 University of Massachusetts, Lowell (No. 137 nationally)
#9 Wellesley College, Wellesley (No. 117 nationally)
85% of students graduate within 4 years, and 91% graduate within 6 years of entering college.
#8 Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester (No. 61 nationally)
Fun fact: Worcester Polytechnic Institute received the little black goat that became its mascot in 1893, a gift from the sophomore class. It's ranked as one of the top engineering schools in the country.
#7 College of the Holy Cross, Worcester (No. 60 nationally)
Holy Cross, the oldest Catholic college in New England, was founded in 1843. They are also one of the few colleges in the country where 100% of our students complete an internship before graduation.
#6 Boston College, Chestnut Hill (No. 45 nationally)
Boston College Fun Facts: Their fight song, “For Boston,” claims to be the oldest fight song in the US. BC’s Gasson Hall is the third most Instagrammed college building in the country. And during exam weeks, BC brings in petting zoos and puppies for students to play with.
#5 Williams College, Williamstown (No. 31 nationally)
Williams Fun Facts: Their mascot is Ephelia the Purple Cow, and the sports teams are referred to as “Ephs.” About 35% of all students participate in intercollegiate sports.
#4 Babson College, Wellesley (No. 10 nationally)
Babson Fun Facts: They only carry Pepsi products, as Pepsi is their sponsor. Roger Babson (the founder) is buried on campus between his first wife Grace, and his mistress Nona, who later became his second wife.
#3 Amherst College, Amherst (No. 8 nationally)
Amherst Fun Facts: The way to get into the coolest dorm room is through Lip Sync, their annual show with the winners getting the highest Room Draw Number. The international students in this years incoming class come from over 30 countries. Their mascot is the Mammoth.
#2 Harvard University, Cambridge (No. 6 nationally)
Harvard Fun Facts: Harvard bans commercial filming on campus, seeing it as a distraction to students. They hold a record number of honors and awards with 161 Nobel Laureates, 23 heads of state, and 132 Pulitzer Prize winners. It also has 79 libraries with the main one housing about 3.5 million books in over 100 languages. Four of the floors are actually underground because that was the only way they were able to expand.
#1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge (No. 2 nationally)
MIT Fun Facts: They send out their undergraduate acceptance letter on March 14th which is Pi Day. They’ve published over 2,600 of their undergraduate and graduate course on OpenCourseWare – free for anyone to use! And they also have a long history of prank culture at the school, including putting up Wakanda Forever Banners on one of their buildings. Some scenes were filmed there, and there was even a character who attended MIT.
