2025 Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Massachusetts

Nursing is of the hottest associate degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #2 most popular major in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 18 schools in Massachusetts to determine which ones were the best for nursing students pursuing a associate degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,384 associate degrees in nursing during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Nursing School for Your Associate Degree

The nursing associate 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

The overall quality of a associate degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges 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

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their associate degree from the school. After all, your associate 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 associate 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 much debt nursing students go into to obtain their associate degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• 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 associate 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 Associate Degree Schools in Massachusetts list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Nursing in Massachusetts

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in nursing.

10 Top Massachusetts Schools for an Associate in Nursing

1

Regis College
Weston, MA

90 Annual Graduates

$79,113 Median Starting Salary

Regis College is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting an associate degree in nursing. Regis College is a small private not-for-profit college located in the large suburb of Weston.

Nursing associate degree recipients from Regis College receive an earnings boost of about $5,557 over the typical earnings of nursing majors.

More information about a associate in nursing from Regis College

2

Quinsigamond Community College
Worcester, MA

141 Annual Graduates

$74,992 Median Starting Salary

Quinsigamond Community College is a wonderful choice for students pursuing an associate degree in nursing. Located in the midsize city of Worcester, Quinsigamond Community College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

Associate students who receive their degree from the nursing program earn around $74,992 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a associate in nursing from Quinsigamond Community College

3

Laboure College
Milton, MA

315 Annual Graduates

$69,451 Median Starting Salary

$14,160 Median Student Debt

It's hard to beat Laboure College if you wish to pursue an associate degree in nursing. Laboure College is a small private not-for-profit college located in the suburb of Milton.

Soon after graduating, nursing associate recipients usually earn an average of $69,451 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a associate in nursing from Laboure College

4

Mount Wachusett Community College
Gardner, MA

74 Annual Graduates

$74,618 Median Starting Salary

It's difficult to beat Mount Wachusett Community College if you wish to pursue an associate degree in nursing. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Gardner, MWCC is a public college with a small student population.

After graduation, nursing associate recipients typically earn about $74,618 in their early careers.

More information about a associate in nursing from Mount Wachusett Community College

5

North Shore Community College
Danvers, MA

53 Annual Graduates

$72,803 Median Starting Salary

North Shore Community College is a small public college located in the suburb of Danvers.

Soon after graduating, nursing associate recipients generally make about $72,803 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a associate in nursing from North Shore Community College

6

Springfield Technical Community College
Springfield, MA

57 Annual Graduates

$75,769 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Springfield, STCC is a public college with a small student population.

Associate recipients from the nursing major at Springfield Technical Community College make $2,213 above the average college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a associate in nursing from Springfield Technical Community College

7

Bunker Hill Community College
Boston, MA

69 Annual Graduates

$72,734 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Boston, BHCC is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

Students who graduate with their associate from the nursing program state that they receive average early career earnings of $72,734.

More information about a associate in nursing from Bunker Hill Community College

8

Bristol Community College
Fall River, MA

74 Annual Graduates

$70,855 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large suburb of Fall River, Bristol is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

After graduation, nursing associate recipients generally make an average of $70,855 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a associate in nursing from Bristol Community College

9

Massasoit Community College
Brockton, MA

73 Annual Graduates

$72,980 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large suburb of Brockton, Massasoit Community College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Students who graduate with their associate from the nursing program state that they receive average early career income of $72,980.

More information about a associate in nursing from Massasoit Community College

10

Berkshire Community College
Pittsfield, MA

70 Annual Graduates

$69,083 Median Starting Salary

Located in the rural area of Pittsfield, BCC is a public college with a small student population.

Associate students who receive their degree from the nursing program make an average of $69,083 in their early career salary.

More information about a associate in nursing from Berkshire Community 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	101	753
New Hampshire	80	328
Rhode Island	70	382
Maine	69	353
Vermont	58	149

View All Rankings >

Nursing Related Rankings by Major

One of 34 majors within the Health Professions area of study, Nursing has other similar majors worth exploring.

Nursing Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Registered Nursing	1,384

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Allied Health Professions	315
Dental Support Services	141
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services	132
Health & Medical Administrative Services	120
Health Sciences & Services	118
Mental & Social Health Services	43
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science	33
Ophthalmic & Optometric Support Services	12
Public Health	11
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants	10

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.