2023 Best Value Science, Tech & Society Schools in the New England Region

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Science, Tech & Society Schools in the New England Region” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2020-2021, 1,095 people earned their degree in science, technology and society, making the major the 232nd most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, science, technology and society graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $41,177 and had an average of $22,529 in loans still to pay off.

Across the New England region, there were 101 science, technology and society graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Science, Tech & Society Schools in the New England Region” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in science, technology and society. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent science, technology and society programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the science, technology and society program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Science, Technology & Society Schools

The science, tech & society school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Science, Tech & Society Schools in the New England Region”.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value Science, Tech & Society Schools in the New England Region

The colleges and universities below are the best for new england region science, tech & society students.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Science, Technology & Society in the New England Region

1

Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester, Massachusetts

#3 in overall quality

$42,835 Average Net Price

$74,666 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Science, Tech & Society Schools in the New England Region. Worcester Polytechnic Institute is a private not-for-profit institution located in Worcester, Massachusetts. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 4 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

WPI also took the #3 spot in our “Best Science, Technology & Society Schools in the New England Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for WPI is $42,835 for New England Region Science, Tech & Society students.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.1%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 95%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about Science, Technology & Society at WPI

2

Colby College
Waterville, Maine

#1 in overall quality

$19,597 Average Net Price

$45,726 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Colby College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Science, Tech & Society Schools in the New England Region list. Colby is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Waterville, Maine. It awarded 13 ’s science, tech and society degrees in 2020-2021.

Colby not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Science, Technology & Society Schools in the New England Region” list. It costs about $19,597 for New England Region Science, Tech & Society students per year to attend Colby.

The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Science, Technology & Society at Colby

3

Tufts University
Medford, Massachusetts

#2 in overall quality

$37,494 Average Net Price

$58,524 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Tufts University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Science, Tech & Society Schools in the New England Region. Medford, Massachusetts is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s science, tech and society degrees to 8 students in 2020-2021.

Tufts did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Science, Technology & Society Schools in the New England Region” list. The yearly cost to attend Tufts University is $37,494 for new england region science, tech & society students.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.1%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. With a freshman retention rate of 92%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Read more about Science, Technology & Society at Tufts

• Best Value Colleges for Science, Technology & Society

Notes and References

References

• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.