The three most selective colleges in this Massachusetts sample are all private institutions: Harvard University, MIT, and Tufts University, with acceptance rates spanning from 3.5 percent to 10.1 percent. Attending one of these schools comes with an average net price of about $24,000 annually, making them surprisingly affordable compared to many peer institutions, particularly given that graduates earn a median of nearly $100,000 six years after finishing their degrees. The combination of extreme selectivity, reasonable out-of-pocket costs, and strong earnings outcomes suggests these schools offer genuine financial value for the small percentage of applicants they admit.