by our College Data Analytics TeamWith all of the options you have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual has developed its Top New England Region Colleges ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.
Our analysis looked at 154 schools in the New England Region to determine which ones were the best in terms of overall quality. To come up with this ranking, we look at more than 20 factors that are all objective measurements. These factors include freshman retention, graduation rate, student-to-faculty ratio, and post graduate earnings, among other things.
Since one ranking on its own is not enough to give you a complete understanding of your educational options, you can refine this list by location and field of study. We've also developed a number of other tools and rankings based on other factors. These other rankings highlight colleges that excel in other factors such as value or diversity as well as schools that excel in serving different groups of students such as veterans or returnings adults.
You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering!
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our analysis found Massachusetts Institute of Technology to be the best school for overall quality in the New England Region in this year’s ranking.
Bachelor’s degree students at the school tend to finish their degree on-time. The 4-year graduation rate is 87%, which is impressive compared to the national rate of 33%. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $143,372 during the early years of their career..
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Harvard University. It ranked #2 on our 2025 Best Colleges in the New England Region list.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 98%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Harvard make an average of $101,817 per year during the early years of their career.
A rank of #3 on our Best Colleges in the New England Region list means Babson College is a great place for students working on their bachelor’s degree.
With a freshman retention rate of 95%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Babson College make an average of $123,938 per year during the early years of their career.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Dartmouth College. The school came in at #4 in the New England Region on this year’s overall quality ranking.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 98%. Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth go into careers with an average salary of $97,434 during the early years of their career.
The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at Boston College helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best schools in the New England Region .
The school boasts an average 4-year graduation rate of 89%, which is excellent when compared to the national rate of 33%. Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Boston College go into careers with an average salary of $103,937 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #6, Yale University did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in the New England Region list.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 98%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Yale make an average of $100,533 per year during the early years of their career.
Boston University landed the #7 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in the New England Region ranking.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Boston U make an average of $83,238 per year during the early years of their career.
Bentley University landed the #8 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in the New England Region ranking.
The 4-year grad rate at the school is 84%. That’s impressive when you compare it to the national rate of 33%. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $120,959 during the early years of their career..
Brown University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in the New England Region ranking.
The school boasts an average 4-year graduation rate of 84%, which is excellent when compared to the national rate of 33%. The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Brown is $93,487 during the early years of their career.
Northeastern University did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in the New England Region ranking, coming in at #10.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%. Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Northeastern make an average of $92,538 per year during the early years of their career.
Tufts University did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in the New England Region ranking, coming in at #11.
The school boasts an average 4-year graduation rate of 89%, which is excellent when compared to the national rate of 33%. Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Tufts go into careers with an average salary of $83,214 during the early years of their career.
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences ranked #12 on this year’s Best Colleges in the New England Region list.
During the early years of their career, graduates from MCPHS University make an average of $125,557 a year.
MGH Institute of Health Professions landed the #13 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in the New England Region ranking.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from MGH Institute of Health Professions go into careers with an average salary of $87,130 during the early years of their career.
Fairfield University landed the #14 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in the New England Region ranking.
With a freshman retention rate of 91%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $88,794 during the early years of their career..
With a ranking of #15, Worcester Polytechnic Institute did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in the New England Region list.
The school boasts an average 4-year graduation rate of 81%, which is excellent when compared to the national rate of 33%. Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from WPI go into careers with an average salary of $103,470 during the early years of their career.
University of Connecticut did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in the New England Region ranking, coming in at #16.
With a freshman retention rate of 91%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from UCONN make an average of $73,997 per year during the early years of their career.
College of the Holy Cross ranked #17 on this year’s Best Colleges in the New England Region list.
The 4-year grad rate at the school is 90%. That’s impressive when you compare it to the national rate of 33%. The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Holy Cross is $90,543 during the early years of their career.
University of Massachusetts Amherst did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in the New England Region ranking, coming in at #18.
The student loan default rate at the school is 1.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1% During the early years of their career, graduates from UMass Amherst make an average of $71,631 a year.
Simmons University ranked #19 on this year’s Best Colleges in the New England Region list.
The school boasts an average 4-year graduation rate of 76%, which is excellent when compared to the national rate of 33%. During the early years of their career, graduates from Simmons make an average of $63,494 a year.
With a ranking of #20, Amherst College did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in the New England Region list.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 95%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Amherst go into careers with an average salary of $77,644 during the early years of their career.
Bowdoin College came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in the New England Region ranking.
Bachelor’s degree students at the school tend to finish their degree on-time. The 4-year graduation rate is 91%, which is impressive compared to the national rate of 33%. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $82,735 during the early years of their career..
Bryant University ranked #22 on this year’s Best Colleges in the New England Region list.
The 4-year grad rate at the school is 79%. That’s impressive when you compare it to the national rate of 33%. Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Bryant go into careers with an average salary of $90,008 during the early years of their career.
Williams College came in at #23 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in the New England Region ranking.
With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $88,665 during the early years of their career..
Middlebury College ranked #24 on this year’s Best Colleges in the New England Region list.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 95%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. During the early years of their career, graduates from Middlebury make an average of $76,310 a year.
Massachusetts College of Art and Design came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in the New England Region ranking.
Since the school has a student-to-faculty rate of 9 to 1, those pursuing a bachelor’s degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $43,582 during the early years of their career..
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These schools also performed well in our Best Colleges ranking:
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 27 | Colby College | Waterville, ME |
| 28 | Brandeis University | Waltham, MA |
| 29 | Rhode Island School of Design | Providence, RI |
| 30 | Emerson College | Boston, MA |
| 31 | Providence College | Providence, RI |
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.