When pursuing a grad degree in today's world, there are many different options to choose from. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our Best Doctor's Degree Colleges in the New England Region ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.
After analyzing 52 grad schools in the New England Region , we came up with our list of those that offered the best doctorate degree programs. Instead of depending on subjective information to rank the best grad schools, we focus on objective factors in our analysis. More specifically, the following explains what we consider and why.
Early-Career Salaries Are Higher
One measure we use to determine the quality of a graduateschool is to look at the average salary of doctorate graduates during the early years of their career. A doctorate degree holder from a school in the New England Region makes an average starting salary of $78,293, but the students who attended schools in the top 20 of our list make an average of $81,626.
Starting Salary ( 53603 to 95703 )
Average Student Debt
Another factor that we look at to determine a school's ranking is the average debt load that graduate students take on while they are working on their doctorate degree.
We consider this number in conjunction with average post-graduation earnings to gauge the difficulty doctorate recipients will have paying back their loans.
Other Ranking Factors in Our Methodology
In addition to average post-graduation earnings and average student debt loads, we also look at a host of other factors to determining our Best Doctorate Degree Schools ranking.
Several other factors - such as how much the school spends on educational resources, the demand of the school, the availability of online learning options, and the student body caliber - go into our rankings.
Are you more interested in the top doctorate degree schools in your area? Try narrowing this list by location. In addition, we've put together a number of other college rankings that may help you in your search.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology tops this year’s ranking as the best grad school for doctorate degrees in the New England Region for overall quality. MIT is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It awarded 568 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Those who receive a doctorate degree from MIT go into careers with an average salary of $115,303 during the early years of their career.
A rank of #2 on our Best Doctorate Degrees in the New England Region list means Harvard University is a great place for students working on their degree. This large private not-for-profit school is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and it awarded 1,444 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, doctorate degree graduates from Harvard make an average of $95,158 a year.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Yale University. It ranked #3 on our 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the New England Region list. Yale University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in New Haven, Connecticut that handed out 742 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Upon graduation, doctorate degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $91,187 during the early years of their career.
The excellent doctorate degree programs at Bentley University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best schools in the New England Region. Bentley is a private not-for-profit institution located in Waltham, Massachusetts. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 1 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
A rank of #5 on our Best Doctorate Degrees in the New England Region list means Suffolk University is a great place for students working on their degree. Suffolk University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in Boston, Massachusetts that handed out 351 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a doctorate degree from Suffolk make an average of $56,355 per year during the early years of their career.
Brown University landed the #6 spot on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the New England Region ranking. Located in Providence, Rhode Island, the fairly large private not-for-profit school awarded 293 diplomas to qualifed doctorate degree students in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a doctorate degree from Brown make an average of $60,843 per year during the early years of their career.
Dartmouth College landed the #7 spot on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the New England Region ranking. This medium-sized private not-for-profit school is located in Hanover, New Hampshire, and it awarded 174 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
The average salary of a graduate with a doctorate degree from Dartmouth is $58,996 during the early years of their career.
Tufts University did quite well in the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the New England Region ranking, coming in at #8. Located in Medford, Massachusetts, the fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 655 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Upon graduation, doctorate degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $78,116 during the early years of their career.
Boston University did quite well in the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the New England Region ranking, coming in at #9. This large private not-for-profit school is located in Boston, Massachusetts, and it awarded 1,170 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Upon graduation, doctorate degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $71,439 during the early years of their career.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the New England Region ranking. Worcester, Massachusetts is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out doctorate degrees to 62 students in 2020-2021.
Brandeis University ranked #11 on this year’s Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the New England Region list. Brandeis University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in Waltham, Massachusetts that handed out 75 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Fairfield University came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the New England Region ranking. This medium-sized private not-for-profit school is located in Fairfield, Connecticut, and it awarded 38 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Upon graduation, doctorate degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $138,401 during the early years of their career.
Northeastern University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the New England Region ranking. Boston, Massachusetts is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out doctorate degrees to 582 students in 2020-2021.
Those who receive a doctorate degree from Northeastern go into careers with an average salary of $80,214 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #14, University of Massachusetts Amherst did quite well on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the New England Region list. Located in Amherst, Massachusetts, the large public school handed out 319 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, doctorate degree graduates from UMass Amherst make an average of $76,002 a year.
Smith College came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the New England Region ranking. Smith College is a small private not-for-profit school located in Northampton, Massachusetts that handed out 6 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Boston College came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the New England Region ranking. Boston College is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 355 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
The average salary of a graduate with a doctorate degree from Boston College is $101,770 during the early years of their career.
Simmons University ranked #17 on this year’s Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the New England Region list. Simmons is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Boston, Massachusetts. It awarded 88 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
The average salary of a graduate with a doctorate degree from Simmons is $69,105 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #18, Clark University did quite well on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the New England Region list. Located in Worcester, Massachusetts, the small private not-for-profit school awarded 24 diplomas to qualifed doctorate degree students in 2020-2021.
University of Connecticut landed the #19 spot on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the New England Region ranking. UCONN is located in Storrs, Connecticut and has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 737 doctorate degrees to qualified graduate students.
Graduates with a doctorate degree from UCONN make an average of $72,623 per year during the early years of their career.
University of New Hampshire - Main Campus landed the #20 spot on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the New England Region ranking. Located in Durham, New Hampshire, the fairly large public school awarded 88 diplomas to qualifed doctorate degree students in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, doctorate degree graduates from UNH make an average of $59,614 a year.
With a ranking of #21, Lesley University did quite well on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the New England Region list. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the small private not-for-profit school awarded 31 diplomas to qualifed doctorate degree students in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, doctorate degree graduates from Lesley make an average of $91,807 a year.
University of Rhode Island landed the #22 spot on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the New England Region ranking. URI is located in Kingston, Rhode Island and has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 234 doctorate degrees to qualified graduate students.
Upon graduation, doctorate degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $73,306 during the early years of their career.
Elms College ranked #23 on this year’s Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the New England Region list. Elms College is located in Chicopee, Massachusetts and has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 4 doctorate degrees to qualified graduate students.
Those who receive a doctorate degree from Elms College go into careers with an average salary of $103,025 during the early years of their career.
Sacred Heart University landed the #24 spot on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the New England Region ranking. Sacred Heart is located in Fairfield, Connecticut and has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 109 doctorate degrees to qualified graduate students.
Those who receive a doctorate degree from Sacred Heart go into careers with an average salary of $71,605 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #25, University of Massachusetts - Lowell did quite well on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the New England Region list. Located in Lowell, Massachusetts, the fairly large public school handed out 139 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Those who receive a doctorate degree from UMass Lowell go into careers with an average salary of $67,655 during the early years of their career.
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 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).
Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.