This point datalayer shows the locations of institutions of higher education in Massachusetts. Sites appearing in this layer are those normally attended by students after completion of high school. Types are public and private, and categories include co-ed, vocational, technical, religious, medical, and traditional 2- and 4-year colleges and universities. This layer was developed by MassGIS and is primarily based on all Massachusetts colleges listed in the National Center for Education Statistics website as of March 12, 2018. Additional schools were added from lists of professional occupational/vocational institutions compiled by the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation Division of Professional Licensure.

Data sources:

https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/

https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2017/09/27/schools.pdf

https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2018/02/15/electricians%20150-600-hrs-course-approved-schools.pdf

Individual college websites were also consulted to verify locations and other material. MassGIS geocoded site addresses and verfied them using current ortho imagery.

A few institutions have multiple campuses, as distinct from satellite locations. For example, Harvard School of Business and Harvard Medical School are campuses within Harvard University, and a point is included in this dataset for each. Some satellite campuses may not be included. For example, Northeastern University conducts classes in satellite locations such as Milford High School. Since Milford High School is a separate educational facility, it is not considered to be a Northeastern University campus, and a point is not included in this layer.

The layer is stored in ArcSDE and distributed as COLLEGES_PT.

For pre-kindergarten through high school educational facilities, see the SCHOOL_PT layer.