Massachusetts has 73 private and 14 public 4-year colleges that enroll 55,383 first-year students yearly. The average tuition of public colleges is $29,821 for in-state students and $42,210 for out-of-state and international students.

Private colleges in Massachusetts charge around $57,515 per year in tuition regardless of residency.

In the 2021-2022 academic year, Massachusetts provided $25.3 million in financial aid to 10,478 students who enrolled in 4-year colleges for the first time as undergraduates. In addition, the colleges themselves awarded $884.9 million in grants and scholarships to 39,405 students.

Massachusetts receives 1.1% of the total pell grant the federal government allocates. In the 2021-2022 academic year, 12,814 4-year college first-year undergraduates were awarded a total amount of $63.8 million in pell grant ($4,305 per student on average), and 24,638 students received a total amount of $124.5 million in the form of student loans from the federal government ($4,676 per student on average).