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Community colleges in Massachusetts

There are 21 two-year, predominantly associate-degree-granting community colleges in Massachusetts reporting to the U.S. Department of Education. Median published in-state tuition across the state is $6,160 per academic year — among the most affordable postsecondary options anywhere in the country.

This page is a working directory: every institution links to a full profile with cost, enrollment, completion, and transfer numbers. The lists below highlight the most affordable, the largest, and the most transfer-active campuses in Massachusetts, drawn from the same Department of Education data four-year admissions offices use to evaluate incoming transfer applicants. If you are weighing a community-college start before continuing to a four-year program, the transfer rate column is the single most useful comparison.

Most affordable in-state tuition in Massachusetts

  1. North Shore Community CollegeDanvers$5,352
  2. Massasoit Community CollegeBrockton$5,376
  3. Greenfield Community CollegeGreenfield$5,810
  4. Bristol Community CollegeFall River$5,832
  5. Massachusetts Bay Community CollegeWellesley Hills$5,856

Full Massachusetts cost ranking → Tuition reference →

Largest community colleges in Massachusetts

  1. Bunker Hill Community CollegeBoston8,612
  2. Quinsigamond Community CollegeWorcester6,447
  3. Bristol Community CollegeFall River6,083
  4. Middlesex Community CollegeBedford5,412
  5. Springfield Technical Community CollegeSpringfield4,759

Full enrollment ranking →

Strongest transfer outcomes

Share of full-time entrants who transferred to another institution within 150% of program length.

  1. Massachusetts Bay Community CollegeWellesley Hills26%
  2. Massasoit Community CollegeBrockton25%
  3. Middlesex Community CollegeBedford21%
  4. Greenfield Community CollegeGreenfield21%
  5. Quinsigamond Community CollegeWorcester20%

Massachusetts transfer guide →

All 21 community colleges in Massachusetts

InstitutionCityEnrollmentIn-state tuition
Bard College at Simon's RockGreat Barrington225$68,780
Berkshire Community CollegePittsfield1,358$6,164
Bristol Community CollegeFall River6,083$5,832
Bunker Hill Community CollegeBoston8,612$6,168
Cape Cod Community CollegeWest Barnstable2,911$6,000
FINE Mortuary CollegeNorwood185$19,450
Greenfield Community CollegeGreenfield1,395$5,810
Holyoke Community CollegeHolyoke3,591$5,988
Laboure College of HealthcareMilton525$30,618
Lawrence Memorial Hospital School of NursingMedford174$31,038
Massachusetts Bay Community CollegeWellesley Hills3,837$5,856
Massasoit Community CollegeBrockton4,235$5,376
Middlesex Community CollegeBedford5,412$6,048
Mount Wachusett Community CollegeGardner3,059$6,160
North Shore Community CollegeDanvers4,393$5,352
Northern Essex Community CollegeHaverhill3,685$6,732
Quincy CollegeQuincy2,300$8,938
Quinsigamond Community CollegeWorcester6,447$6,262
Roxbury Community CollegeRoxbury Crossing1,977$6,024
Springfield Technical Community CollegeSpringfield4,759$5,904
Urban College of BostonBoston438$7,608

About community college in Massachusetts

Massachusetts's 21 community colleges serve as the primary on-ramp into postsecondary education for hundreds of thousands of residents each year. They award associate degrees, occupational certificates, and — through articulation agreements with public and private four-year institutions — transferable general-education credit. For most students, the financial argument is decisive: published in-state tuition averages a small fraction of state-flagship sticker price, and many community-college students qualify for the full federal Pell Grant, eliminating tuition entirely.

If you intend to transfer, the most important question to ask any Massachusetts community college is which four-year institutions accept its credit on a course-for-course basis. The state's strongest transfer pipelines tend to feed regional public universities, but well-prepared students from accredited community colleges in Massachusetts routinely transfer into selective private institutions as well. Use the transfer-rate column above as a starting filter, then consult the receiving university's transfer admissions office to confirm specific course equivalencies.

Career-focused students should pay attention to the local labor market as much as to the institution. Massachusetts's community colleges concentrate heavily in health-care occupations, mechanical and engineering technology, business administration, and skilled-trades programs aligned to regional employers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' state-level wage data is the right reference for setting expectations on starting salary by field. Where this site reports earnings, the figure is median earnings ten years after first enrollment, drawn from the College Scorecard's match against federal tax records.