Massachusetts has no COAMFTE-accredited marriage and family therapy program, so a Boston student looking for an accredited degree is looking across a state line or online. New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut all have accredited programs, and so does New York.
Where are the nearest accredited MFT programs to Boston?
The nearest accredited MFT programs to Boston are in New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut, with more in New York. Vermont has none. The table counts what each state holds and links to its full ranking.
| State | Programs | Where | Top score |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire 2 master's, 1 doctoral | 3 | Durham, Keene | 97.3 |
| Rhode Island 1 master's | 1 | Kingston | 19.3 |
| Connecticut 3 master's | 3 | Fairfield, New Britain, New Haven | 94.7 |
| New York 4 master's, 1 doctoral | 5 | New Rochelle, Rochester, Syracuse | 94.7 |
| Vermont | None | No accredited program |
Can you earn an accredited MFT degree online from Boston?
Yes. 29 of the 127 COAMFTE-accredited programs are delivered online or as a hybrid of online coursework and short residencies, and they can be studied from Boston. The clinical practicum is the part that cannot move online: it is supervised, face-to-face work with clients, and the program arranges it, or approves one you find, near where you live.
Before enrolling in a program based in another state, ask it directly whether it places students in Massachusetts and whether its graduates have been licensed here. A program that has done it before will know the answer.
Best online master's in marriage and family therapy programs. Online and hybrid doctoral MFT programs.
What do marriage and family therapists earn in the Boston area?
Marriage and family therapists in the Boston metro area earn a median of $69,830, which is 4% above the national median and 4% above the Massachusetts statewide figure.
Where Boston differs from the country is at the bottom of the range rather than the middle. The median sits close to the national figure, but the tenth percentile in the metro is $52,090, against $44,650 nationally, so the lowest-paid posts in Boston pay noticeably more than the lowest-paid posts elsewhere. The survey counts 430 marriage and family therapists in the metro.
How do you get licensed as a marriage and family therapist in Massachusetts?
You get licensed as a marriage and family therapist in Massachusetts through the Board of Registration of Allied Mental Health and Human Services Professions, with a qualifying degree, two years of supervised clinical experience after it and a passing exam score. The regulation asks for a master's or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy or related field from a recognized institution, and it does not name COAMFTE, so an accredited degree from New Hampshire, Rhode Island or Connecticut is one way to meet it rather than the only way.
The experience is two years full-time, or 3,360 hours after the master's, with at least 1,000 hours of face-to-face clinical contact, 500 of them with couples and families, and 200 hours of supervision, 100 of them individual.
Common questions about MFT programs near Boston
Is there an accredited MFT program in Boston?
Which other large cities have no accredited MFT program?
Where do these figures come from?
The program list and every score come from the COAMFTE directory and each program's own published Graduate Achievement Data, scored as the methodology describes. Wage figures are the Bureau of Labor Statistics' May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics for SOC 21-1013, marriage and family therapists.
- 262 CMR 3.03, Massachusetts MFT licensure (Cornell LII) : degree, experience, supervision and exam rules, read 2026-10-05
- BLS OEWS, Boston-Cambridge-Newton metro : metro wage and employment figures for SOC 21-1013, May 2025