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2022 Best Value Colleges for Philosophy in Massachusetts (With Aid)

7 Ranked Colleges
577 Degrees Awarded
$29,500 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Philosophy Schools in Massachusetts For Those Getting Aid

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Philosophy Schools in Massachusetts For Those Getting Aid” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Philosophy is the 81st most popular major in the country with 10,015 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, philosophy graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $29,067 and had an average of $22,199 in loans still to pay off.

Across Massachusetts, there were 577 philosophy graduates with average earnings and debt of $34,300 and $22,458 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Philosophy Schools in Massachusetts For Those Getting Aid” ranking looked at 7 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in philosophy. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent philosophy 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 philosophy program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value Philosophy Schools in Massachusetts For Those Getting Aid” list to help you make the college decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Philosophy Schools in Massachusetts For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Philosophy Schools in Massachusetts For Those Getting Aid.

Top 7 Best Value Colleges for Philosophy in Massachusetts (With Aid)

#1

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Amherst, Massachusetts

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Massachusetts Amherst. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Philosophy Schools in Massachusetts For Those Getting Aid. Located in Amherst, Massachusetts, this large public school awarded 35 degrees to qualified ’s philosophy students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UMass Amherst, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best Philosophy Schools in Massachusetts” ranking. It costs about $22,501 for massachusetts philosophy students with aid per year to attend University of Massachusetts Amherst.

With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Philosophy at University of Massachusetts Amherst

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Philosophy Schools in Massachusetts For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Massachusetts - Boston landed the #2 spot on the list. This fairly large school is located in Boston, Massachusetts, and it awarded 27 ’s philosophy degrees in 2019-2020.

UMass Boston did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best Philosophy Schools in Massachusetts” list. It costs about $18,340 for Massachusetts Philosophy students with aid per year to attend UMass Boston.

Full University of Massachusetts - Boston Philosophy Report

#3

Boston College

Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Boston College. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Philosophy Schools in Massachusetts For Those Getting Aid list. Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s philosophy degrees to 109 students in 2019-2020.

Boston College also took the #1 spot in our “Best Philosophy Schools in Massachusetts” ranking. It costs about $35,899 for Massachusetts Philosophy students with aid per year to attend Boston College.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low student loan default rate of 1.2% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Full Boston College Philosophy Report

#4

Boston University

Boston, Massachusetts

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Philosophy Schools in Massachusetts For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Boston University landed the #4 spot on the list. Boston U is a large school located in Boston, Massachusetts that handed out 54 ’s philosophy degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Boston U, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Philosophy Schools in Massachusetts” ranking. It costs about $30,259 for massachusetts philosophy students with aid per year to attend Boston University.

With a freshman retention rate of 92%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The low student loan default rate of 1.4% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. The 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.

Read more about Philosophy at Boston U

#5

College of the Holy Cross

Worcester, Massachusetts

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend College of the Holy Cross. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Philosophy Schools in Massachusetts For Those Getting Aid. College of the Holy Cross is a private not-for-profit institution located in Worcester, Massachusetts. The school has a small population, and it awarded 16 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Holy Cross also made our “Best Philosophy Schools in Massachusetts” list, coming in at #2. It costs about $37,292 for Massachusetts Philosophy students with aid per year to attend Holy Cross.

With a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 0.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Philosophy at College of the Holy Cross

#6

Tufts University

Medford, Massachusetts

Tufts University landed the #6 spot on the 2022 Best Value Philosophy Schools in Massachusetts For Those Getting Aid ranking. Located in Medford, Massachusetts, this fairly large private not-for-profit school awarded 26 degrees to qualified ’s philosophy students in 2019-2020.

Tufts also made our “Best Philosophy Schools in Massachusetts” list, coming in at #3. The estimated yearly cost for Tufts University is $30,744 for Massachusetts Philosophy students with aid.

With a freshman retention rate of 92%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The low student loan default rate of 1.2% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. The impressive 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.

Read more about Philosophy at Tufts

#7

Brandeis University

Waltham, Massachusetts

Brandeis University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Philosophy Schools in Massachusetts For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #7. This medium-sized school is located in Waltham, Massachusetts, and it awarded 32 ’s philosophy degrees in 2019-2020.

Brandeis not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best Philosophy Schools in Massachusetts” list. The yearly cost to attend Brandeis is $31,165 for Massachusetts Philosophy students with aid.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 90%. The low student loan default rate of 2.3% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. The impressive 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.

Full Brandeis Philosophy Report

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.

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