Massachusetts

==Education==

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{{Further| List of colleges and universities in Massachusetts|List of engineering schools in Massachusetts|List of high schools in Massachusetts|List of school districts in Massachusetts|Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education|Massachusetts Department of Higher Education|University of Massachusetts|History of education in Massachusetts|}}
[[File:MA Public High School District SAT by town.png|thumb|Towns in Massachusetts by combined mean SAT of their public high school district for the 2015–2016 academic year<ref>{{cite web|url=http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/state_report/sat_perf.aspx|title=2015–16 SAT Performance Statewide Report|website=profiles.doe.mass.edu}}</ref>]]

In 2018, Massachusetts's overall educational system was ranked the top among all fifty U.S. states by ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/slideshows/10-best-states-for-education?int=undefined-rec&slide=10|title=The 10 Best U.S. States for Education—2. New Jersey|work=[[U.S. News & World Report]]|date=February 27, 2018|access-date=May 5, 2018}}</ref> Massachusetts was the first state in North America to require municipalities to appoint a teacher or establish a grammar school with the passage of the [[Massachusetts School Laws|Massachusetts Education Law]] of 1647,{{sfn|Dejnozka|Gifford|Kapel|Kapel|1982|p=313}} and 19th century reforms pushed by [[Horace Mann]] laid much of the groundwork for contemporary universal public education{{sfn|Dejnozka|Gifford|Kapel|Kapel|1982|p=311}}{{sfn|Goldfield|Abbott|Anderson|Argersinger|1998|pp=251–52}} which was established in 1852.<ref name=compschools /> Massachusetts is home to the oldest school in continuous existence in North America ([[The Roxbury Latin School]], founded in 1645), as well as the country's oldest public elementary school ([[The Mather School]], founded in 1639),<ref>{{cite web |title=Mather Elementary School |url=http://www.bostonpublicschools.org/school/mather-elementary-school |publisher=Boston Public Schools |access-date=May 5, 2015}}</ref> its oldest high school ([[Boston Latin School]], founded in 1635),<ref>{{cite news|last=Ramírez |first=Eddy |title=The First Class State |url=https://www.usnews.com/articles/education/high-schools/2007/11/29/the-first-class-state.html |newspaper=[[U.S. News & World Report]] |date=November 29, 2007 |access-date=June 5, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219191828/http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/high-schools/2007/11/29/the-first-class-state.html |archive-date=December 19, 2008 }}</ref> its oldest continuously operating boarding school ([[The Governor's Academy]], founded in 1763),<ref>{{cite web |title=#26 The Governors Academy, Byfield, Mass |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/most-expensive-private-schools-2011-4#26-the-governors-academy-byfield-mass-3 |website=[[Business Insider]] |access-date=May 5, 2015}}</ref> its oldest college ([[Harvard University]], founded in 1636),<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rimer |first1=Sara |last2=Finder |first2=Alan |title=Harvard Plans to Name First Female President |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/10/education/10harvard.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 10, 2007 |access-date=June 5, 2010}}</ref> and its oldest women's college ([[Mount Holyoke College]], founded in 1837).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.studypoint.com/admissions/mount-holyoke/ |title=Mount Holyoke Admissions Information |publisher=StudyPoint |access-date=June 10, 2015}}</ref> Massachusetts is also home to the highest ranked private high school in the United States, [[Phillips Academy]] in [[Andover, Massachusetts]], which was founded in 1778.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dangremond|first=Sam|date=August 1, 2018|title=These Are the Best Private High Schools in America, According to a New Ranking|url=https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/news/a8639/best-private-high-schools-in-america/|access-date=July 21, 2010|website=Town and Country}}</ref>

Massachusetts's per-student public expenditure for elementary and secondary schools was eighth in the nation in 2012, at $14,844.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bidwell |first1=Allie |title=How States Are Spending Money in Education |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/01/29/how-states-are-spending-money-in-education |website=[[U.S. News & World Report]] |access-date=May 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505044339/http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/01/29/how-states-are-spending-money-in-education |archive-date=May 5, 2015 }}</ref> In 2013, Massachusetts scored highest of all the states in math and third-highest in reading on the [[National Assessment of Educational Progress]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Are the nation's twelfth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading? |url=http://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reading_math_g12_2013/#/ |publisher=[[National Assessment of Educational Progress]] |access-date=May 5, 2015}}</ref> Massachusetts' public-school students place among the top tier in the world in academic performance.<ref name="AcademicRanking3">{{cite web |url=http://www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.aspx?id=24050 |url-status=live |title=Massachusetts Students Score among World Leaders on PISA Reading, Science and Math Tests |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204051502/http://www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.aspx?id=24050 |archive-date=December 4, 2019 |access-date=January 14, 2020}}</ref>

Massachusetts is home to 121 institutions of higher education.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/ciswel/weltomas.htm#edu |title=A Practical Guide to Living in the State—Education |publisher=[[Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth]] |location=MA, US |access-date=June 2, 2010}}</ref> [[Harvard University]] and the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]], both located in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], consistently rank among the world's best private universities and universities in general.<ref>{{cite web |title=World's Best Universities:Top 400 |website=[[U.S. News & World Report]] |access-date=May 25, 2010 |date=February 25, 2010 |url=https://www.usnews.com/articles/education/worlds-best-universities/2010/02/25/worlds-best-universities-top-400.html}}</ref> In addition to Harvard and MIT, several other Massachusetts universities rank in the top 50 at the undergraduate level nationally in the [[College and university rankings#United States|widely cited rankings]] of ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]'': [[Tufts University]] (#27), [[Boston College]] (#32), [[Brandeis University]] (#34), [[Boston University]] (#37) and [[Northeastern University]] (#40). Massachusetts is also home to three of the top five ''U.S. News & World Report''{{'}}s best Liberal Arts Colleges: [[Williams College]] (#1), [[Amherst College]] (#2), and [[Wellesley College]] (#4).<ref>{{cite web|title=National Liberal Arts Colleges Rankings |url=http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges |website=[[U.S. News & World Report]] |access-date=May 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821213346/http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges |archive-date=August 21, 2016 }}</ref> It is also home to the oldest Catholic liberal arts college, [[College of the Holy Cross]] (#33).<ref>{{Cite web |title=College of the Holy Cross Rankings |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/holy-cross-2141/overall-rankings |access-date=May 28, 2023 |website=U.S. News & World Report}}</ref> [[Boston Architectural College]] is New England's largest private college of [[spatial design]]. The public [[University of Massachusetts]] (nicknamed ''UMass'') features five campuses in the state, with its [[University of Massachusetts Amherst|flagship campus]] in [[Amherst, Massachusetts|Amherst]], which enrolls more than 25,000.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.massachusetts.edu/system/about.html |title=The UMass System |publisher=[[University of Massachusetts Amherst]] |access-date=May 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130830061248/http://www.massachusetts.edu/system/about.html |archive-date=August 30, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://media.umassp.edu/massedu/ir/facts2009-10.pdf |title=UMass—Facts 2009–2010 |publisher=[[University of Massachusetts Amherst]] |access-date=May 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720090725/http://media.umassp.edu/massedu/ir/facts2009-10.pdf |archive-date=July 20, 2011 }}</ref>