List of colleges and universities in metropolitan Boston

Although larger institutions may have several schools, some of which are located in cities other than that of the main campus (such as Harvard Medical School and Tufts University School of Medicine), each institution is listed only once and location is determined by the site of each institution's main campus.

Three universities—Harvard and MIT in Cambridge, as well as Tufts in Somerville—make up the "brainpower triangle" of greater Boston, a region defined by universities that have a large local and national influence.

[1] There are a total of 44 institutions of higher education in the defined region, including three junior colleges, 11 colleges that primarily grant baccalaureate and master's degrees, eight research universities, and 22 special-focus institutions.

Of these, 39 are private ventures while five are public institutions (four are run by the state of Massachusetts and one is operated by the city of Quincy).

All but five of these schools are accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE).