MCPHS Earns National Recognition From TIME

University recognized among America’s Best Colleges for Student Outcomes and Learning Environment.

For students weighing the cost of a college degree, the value of higher education can come down to a few basic questions: Will I graduate? Will my degree help me get a well-paying job? Will my education be worth what I’m spending?

Those are among the questions TIME and data research firm Statista considered in naming Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) to the inaugural America’s Best Colleges of 2026-2027 list.

MCPHS landed at No. 185 among the 500 colleges and universities included in the national ranking, placing it No. 16 among the 31 Massachusetts institutions on the list. The ranking evaluates schools based on Student Outcomes, Learning Environment, and Attractiveness.

So, how does TIME calculate all this? It’s mostly about Student Outcomes, or in other words, real-world results, accounting for 75% of the overall score. That’s things like post-graduate earnings, graduation rates, and how much students get back financially compared to what they put in.

TIME and Statista also dig deeper, using models that look at differences in programs and student backgrounds. MCPHS earned a 75.30 in Student Outcomes and an 83.60 in Learning Environment, which brought the University’s overall score to 69.94.

The Student Outcomes score is better than several other Massachusetts schools like UMass Boston, Simmons University, Wentworth Institute of Technology, Clark University, and Brandeis University. When you look at Learning Environment, which includes measures like the student-to-faculty ratio, per-student spending, and how diverse the student body and faculty are, MCPHS’s score of 83.60 tops MIT’s 81.77 and comes out higher than Boston University, Babson College, Boston College, Bentley University, Northeastern University, and UMass Amherst.

TIME’s reporting also highlights how the STEM fields keep growing, and how students are flocking to schools that give them a clear path into the workforce. According to a National Science Foundation report cited by the magazine, the STEM workforce grew by 26% over the past decade, compared to just 9% growth in non-STEM jobs. The foundation expects that pace to keep up.

That growth fits right in with the mission at MCPHS, where students dive into hands-on health and life sciences programs in pharmacy, nursing, physical therapy, optometry, physician assistant studies, medical imaging, and other fields. The curriculum combines specialized classes with clinical experience, so graduates are ready to jump straight into professional practice.

This latest ranking from TIME is just one in a run of national recognitions for MCPHS. Georgetown’s Center on Education and the Workforce ranked MCPHS No. 5 in the country for return on investment. Niche called MCPHS the No. 2 safest college campus in Massachusetts for 2026. And Forbes gave the school an A+ financial grade and a 4.5 GPA in this year’s annual college financial rankings.