Lesley University

Private · Moderately Selective · MA

Photo: Daderot (Public domain)

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationMA · Northeast

SettingUrban

Undergrads1,122

Student:faculty10:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate43%

6-yr grad rate58%

Drop-out rate27.7%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$34k

Out-of-state tuition$34k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity53.6%

Gender diversity70.8%

International3.2%

Identity—

Overview

Lesley University, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has prepared teachers since 1909 and remains best known for education, though it has grown well beyond that single mission. Its campus clusters around Porter and Harvard Squares, putting it inside one of the country's densest concentrations of colleges and universities, and it draws on that setting rather than existing as a self-contained campus.

Academics

Education, counseling, and expressive-arts therapies — art therapy, music therapy — are Lesley's strongest and most distinctive programs; few universities combine teacher preparation with a serious expressive-therapies department. Its Art Institute heritage, from a merger with the former Art Institute of Boston, also gives it real strength in art and design, an unusual pairing with its education-school roots.

Campus & student life

The campus is spread across several buildings near Porter and Harvard Squares rather than existing as one enclosed quad, so student life blends into Cambridge's dense, walkable urban fabric — coffee shops, bookstores, and easy transit access to Boston are part of daily life rather than a special trip. Housing is available, but the university's identity leans less toward a traditional residential-campus culture than many peer schools.

After graduation

Education graduates place readily into Massachusetts and New England schools, and the counseling and therapy programs feed into clinical and school-based mental-health roles. The Cambridge and Boston location gives graduates in art, design, and therapy fields easy access to a dense regional job market without relocating.

Worth knowing

The combination of teacher preparation, counseling, expressive-arts therapy, and art and design under one roof is genuinely unusual — a student interested in art therapy specifically will find few universities with Lesley's depth in that niche.

lesley.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate96.9%

Enrolled mid-50%—

Test policynot used

Rec letters1

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

AdmissionRolling

Applying