Boston is essentially one massive college town.
The Boston metropolitan area has one of the greatest concentrations of colleges and universities anywhere in the world. More than 50 higher education institutions and hundreds of thousands of students are spread throughout the region.
Major schools such as Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern University, Tufts University, and Brandeis University are all located within a relatively compact area.
This unique concentration is rooted in history. As one of colonial America’s earliest major cities, Boston and the broader New England region placed a strong emphasis on education from the beginning. Harvard, founded in 1636, became the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States.
Over the centuries, dozens of colleges and universities were established across Boston and nearby Cambridge, helping create a world-renowned hub for research, medicine, technology, and finance.