List of Colleges and Universities in Metropolitan Boston

This is a list of colleges and universities in metropolitan Boston. Some are located within Boston proper while some are located in neighboring cities and towns, but all are within the 128/95/1 loop. This is a somewhat narrow definition of Metropolitan Boston, and it excludes colleges and universities along the North Shore, South Shore and in suburbs to the west. 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.

There are a total of 52 institutions of higher education in the defined region, including 7 junior colleges, 14 colleges that primarily grant baccalaureate and master's degrees, 8 research universities, and 23 special-focus institutions. Of these, 50 are non-profit organizations while 3 are for-profit businesses, and 48 are private ventures while 5 are public institutions (4 are run by the state of Massachusetts and 1 is operated by the city of Quincy).

In 2007, enrollment at these colleges and universities ranged from 108 students at the Episcopal Divinity School to 32,053 students at Boston University. The first to be founded was Harvard University, also the oldest institution of higher education in the United States, while the most recently established institution in the area is the Urban College of Boston. All but four of these schools are accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), the oldest regional accrediting body in the United States, and all but one are recognized by the United States Department of Education.