page_title: Worcester, Massachusetts
section_title: Higher education
hierarchical_section_title: Worcester, Massachusetts / Education / Higher education
caption_attribution_description: English: Summary: photograph of Warner Theater at Worcester Academy, Worcester, MA, taken by author in May, 2003.
context_page_description: Worcester is a city, and county seat of, Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, Worcestershire, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population was 181,045, making it the second-most populous city in New England after Boston. Worcester is approximately 40 miles west of Boston, 50 miles east of Springfield and 40 miles north of Providence. Due to its location in Central Massachusetts, Worcester is known as the "Heart of the Commonwealth", thus, a heart is the official symbol of the city. However, the heart symbol may also have its provenance in lore that the Valentine's Day card, although not invented in the city, was first mass-produced and popularized by Worcester resident Esther Howland.
  Worcester was considered its own distinct region apart from Boston until the 1970s. Since then, Boston's suburbs have been extending further westward, especially after the construction of Interstate 495 and Interstate 290. The Worcester region now marks the western periphery of the Boston-Worcester-Providence U.S. Census Combined Statistical Area, or Greater Boston. The city features many examples of Victorian-era mill architecture.
context_section_description: Worcester is home to nine institutes of higher education.
  Assumption College is the fourth oldest Roman Catholic college in New England and was founded in 1904. At 175 acres (0.71 km²), it has the largest campus in Worcester.
  Becker College is a private college with campuses in Worcester and Leicester, Massachusetts. It was founded in Leicester in 1784 as Leicester Academy. The Worcester campus was founded in 1887, and the two campuses merged into Becker College in 1977. Becker's video game design program has consistently been ranked in the top 10 in the U.S. and Canada.
  Clark University was founded in 1887 as the first all-graduate school in the country; it now also educates undergraduates and is noted for its strengths in psychology and geography. Its first president was G. Stanley Hall, the founder of organized psychology as a science and profession, father of the child study movement, and founder of the American Psychological Association. Well-known professors include Albert A. Michelson, who won the first American Nobel Prize in 1902 for his measurement of light. Robert H. Goddard, a pioneering rocket scientist of the space age also studied and taught here, and, in his only visit to the United States, Sigmund Freud delivered his five famous "Clark Lectures" at the university. Clark offers the only program in the country leading to a Ph.D. in Holocaust History and Genocide Studies.
  College of the Holy Cross was founded in 1843 and is the oldest Roman Catholic college in New England and one of the oldest in the United States. Well-known graduates include Nobel laureate Joseph E. Murray; former Poet Laureate of the United States Billy Collins; Basketball Hall of Fame member Bob Cousy; attorney and professional sports' team owner Edward Bennett Williams; College Football Hall of Fame member Gordie Lockbaum; and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. In 2013, Holy Cross was ranked by U.S. News and World Report as the nation's 25th highest-rated liberal arts college.
  The Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Worcester Campus houses the institution's Doctor of Optometry program, accelerated Doctor of Pharmacy, Post-Baccalaureate Bachelor's in Nursing; Master's in Nursing – Family Nurse Practitioner, Master's program New England School of Acupuncture, as well as the Master's program in Physician Assistant Studies for post-baccalaureate students.
  Quinsigamond Community College.
  The University of Massachusetts Medical School (1970) is one of the nation's top 50 medical schools. Dr. Craig Mello won the 2006 Nobel Prize for Medicine. The University of Massachusetts Medical School is ranked fourth in primary care education among America's 125 medical schools in the 2006 U.S. News & World Report annual guide "America's Best Graduate Schools".
  Worcester Polytechnic Institute (1865) is an innovative leader in engineering education and partnering with local biotechnology industries. Robert Goddard, the father of modern rocketry, graduated from WPI in 1908 with a Bachelor of Science in physics.
  Worcester State University is a public, 4-year college founded in 1874 as Worcester Normal School.
  An early higher education institution, the Oread Institute, closed in 1934.
  Many of these institutions participate in the Colleges of Worcester Consortium. This independent, non-profit collegiate association includes academic institutions in Worcester and other communities in Worcester County, such as Anna Maria College in neighboring Paxton. It facilitates cooperation among the colleges and universities. One example of this being its inter-college shuttle bus and student cross registration.
caption: Warner Memorial Theater, opened 1932, designed by Drew Eberson, Worcester Academy
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