2025 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Massachusetts

Ranked #2 in popularity, nursing is one of the most sought-after master's degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

College Factual looked at 14 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Massachusetts ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 1,381 master's degrees in nursing to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Nursing School for Your Master's Degree

The nursing master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality nursing program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on nursing students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of nursing students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for nursing to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized nursing related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for nursing students working on their master's degree.

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 Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Massachusetts list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Nursing in Massachusetts

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for nursing students seeking a a master's degree.

10 Top Massachusetts Schools for a Master's in Nursing

1

Northeastern University
Boston, MA

50 Annual Graduates

$125,480 Median Starting Salary

Northeastern University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in nursing. Northeastern is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Boston.

Those nursing students who get their master's degree from Northeastern University make $17,483 more than the typical nursing grad.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Northeastern University

2

MGH Institute of Health Professions
Boston, MA

112 Annual Graduates

$104,551 Median Starting Salary

MGH Institute of Health Professions is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in nursing. Located in the large city of Boston, MGH Institute of Health Professions is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Master's students who receive their degree from the nursing program make around $104,551 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in nursing from MGH Institute of Health Professions

3

Simmons University
Boston, MA

391 Annual Graduates

$106,035 Median Starting Salary

Simmons University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in nursing. Simmons is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Boston.

Master's students who receive their degree from the nursing program earn an average of $106,035 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Simmons University

4

Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA

61 Annual Graduates

$111,763 Median Starting Salary

Boston College is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in nursing. Boston College is a large private not-for-profit college located in the small city of Chestnut Hill.

Master's recipients from the nursing major at Boston College get $3,766 more than the average graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Boston College

5

Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Boston, MA

103 Annual Graduates

$106,861 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Boston, MCPHS University is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

Soon after graduation, nursing master's recipients typically make an average of $106,861 in their early careers.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

6

Regis College
Weston, MA

380 Annual Graduates

$111,204 Median Starting Salary

Regis College is a small private not-for-profit college located in the large suburb of Weston.

Nursing master's degree recipients from Regis College get an earnings boost of around $3,207 above the average income of nursing graduates.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Regis College

7

University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, MA

20 Annual Graduates

$78,593 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Amherst, UMass Amherst is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Soon after graduation, nursing master's recipients generally earn an average of $78,593 in their early careers.

More information about a master’s in nursing from University of Massachusetts Amherst

8

University of Massachusetts - Boston
Boston, MA

45 Annual Graduates

$111,431 Median Starting Salary

UMass Boston is a large public university located in the large city of Boston.

Those nursing students who get their master's degree from University of Massachusetts - Boston make $3,434 more than the typical nursing student.

More information about a master’s in nursing from University of Massachusetts - Boston

9

Elms College
Chicopee, MA

13 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Chicopee, Elms College is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.More information about a master’s in nursing from Elms College

10

Endicott College
Beverly, MA

34 Annual Graduates

$98,240 Median Starting Salary

Endicott is a small private not-for-profit college located in the large suburb of Beverly.

Master's students who receive their degree from the nursing program make about $98,240 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Endicott College

Best Nursing Colleges in the New England Region

Explore all the Best Nursing Schools in the New England Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Connecticut	153	506
Rhode Island	127	62
New Hampshire	108	281
Vermont	91	0
Maine	90	125

View All Rankings >

Nursing Related Rankings by Major

Nursing is one of 34 different types of Health Professions programs to choose from.

Nursing Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Registered Nursing	599
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	475
Nursing Science	76
Nursing Administration	69
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	61
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	27
Clinical Nurse Specialist	23
School Nursing	15
Nursing Practice	13
Women’s Health Nurse/Nursing	12

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Public Health	1,269
Communication Sciences	585
Mental & Social Health Services	577
Health & Medical Administrative Services	520
Allied Health Professions	494
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	425
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	343
Medical Illustration & Informatics	127
Bioethics/Medical Ethics	125
Advanced Dentistry & Oral Sciences	50

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• 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 the rest 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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Aleksahgabrielle. More about our data sources and methodologies.