Best Proofreader programs in Massachusetts, ranked by enrollment
Read transcript or proof type setup to detect and mark for correction any grammatical, typographical, or compositional errors. Excludes workers whose primary duty is editing copy.
52 schools in Massachusetts run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,621 people a year. The job pays a median of $57,160 in Massachusetts across about 190 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Massachusetts that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
5 programs in Massachusetts that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Massachusetts (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Massachusetts page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English Language and Literature, Generalmain feeder CIP 23.0101In Massachusetts → | 1,150 | 70.9% | 49 | $29,622 | $24,546 |
| 2 | CIP 09.0401In Massachusetts → | 377 | 23.3% | 9 | $34,515 | $24,250 |
| 3 | CIP 52.0501In Massachusetts → | 73 | 4.5% | 2 | $41,000 | $26,000 |
| 4 | CIP 23.1399In Massachusetts → | 15 | 0.9% | 2 | $28,725 | $25,250 |
| 5 | CIP 23.1301In Massachusetts → | 6 | 0.4% | 2 | $28,725 | $25,250 |
Top 25 schools in Massachusetts
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 31 of the 52 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston University Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 213 | Journalism | $42,857 | 89% | $21,956 | 11% |
| 2 | University of Massachusetts - Amherst Amherst, MA Public · 2 feeder programs | 161 | English Language and Literature, General | $24,521 | 83% | — | 60% |
| 3 | Harvard University Cambridge, MA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 147 | English Language and Literature, General | $30,838 | 98% | $15,013 | 4% |
| 4 | Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 89 | English Language and Literature, General | $41,878 | 91% | $21,126 | 16% |
| 5 | Emerson College Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 82 | Journalism | $39,703 | 77% | $40,982 | 51% |
| 6 | Northeastern University Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 80 | English Language and Literature, General | $49,639 | 91% | $18,925 | 5% |
| 7 | University of Massachusetts - Lowell Lowell, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 66 | English Language and Literature, General | $30,408 | 65% | — | 83% |
| 8 | University of Massachusetts - Boston Boston, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 64 | English Language and Literature, General | $35,820 | 49% | — | 84% |
| 9 | Bridgewater State University Bridgewater, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 60 | English Language and Literature, General | $34,569 | 53% | — | 88% |
| 10 | Mount Holyoke College South Hadley, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 48 | English Language and Literature, General | $22,680 | 84% | $26,083 | 36% |
| 11 | College of the Holy Cross Worcester, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 46 | English Language and Literature, General | $43,362 | 87% | $24,533 | 18% |
| 12 | Salem State University Salem, MA Public · 2 feeder programs | 45 | English Language and Literature, General | $32,844 | 50% | — | 96% |
| 13 | Tufts University Medford, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 45 | English Language and Literature, General | $34,689 | 94% | $23,570 | 11% |
| 14 | Williams College Williamstown, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 41 | English Language and Literature, General | $49,340 | 94% | $10,747 | 8% |
| 15 | Smith College Northampton, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 40 | English Language and Literature, General | $25,023 | 89% | $17,183 | 21% |
| 16 | Brandeis University Waltham, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 34 | English Language and Literature, General | $39,867 | 86% | $25,074 | 40% |
| 17 | Amherst College Amherst, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 29 | English Language and Literature, General | $41,979 | 94% | $16,081 | 9% |
| 18 | Bentley University Waltham, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 26 | Business/Corporate Communications, General | $57,141 | 87% | $31,677 | 45% |
| 19 | Framingham State University Framingham, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 25 | English Language and Literature, General | $37,188 | 48% | — | 84% |
| 20 | University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth North Dartmouth, MA Public · 2 feeder programs | 25 | English Language and Literature, General | $31,661 | 52% | — | 91% |
| 21 | Worcester State University Worcester, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 23 | English Language and Literature, General | $33,022 | 61% | — | 88% |
| 22 | Clark University Worcester, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 19 | English Language and Literature, General | $22,670 | 77% | $23,332 | 40% |
| 23 | Wellesley College Wellesley, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 19 | English Language and Literature, General | $38,376 | 92% | $19,292 | 14% |
| 24 | Westfield State University Westfield, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 19 | English Language and Literature, General | — | 54% | — | 81% |
| 25 | Suffolk University Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 18 | Journalism | $33,628 | 61% | $28,895 | 82% |
All 52 schools in Massachusetts
Every school in Massachusetts with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston University | Boston | Private not-for-profit | 213 | 3 |
| University of Massachusetts - Amherst | Amherst | Public | 161 | 2 |
| Harvard University | Cambridge | Private not-for-profit | 147 | 3 |
| Boston College | Chestnut Hill | Private not-for-profit | 89 | 1 |
| Emerson College | Boston | Private not-for-profit | 82 | 1 |
| Northeastern University | Boston | Private not-for-profit | 80 | 2 |
| University of Massachusetts - Lowell | Lowell | Public | 66 | 1 |
| University of Massachusetts - Boston | Boston | Public | 64 | 1 |
| Bridgewater State University | Bridgewater | Public | 60 | 1 |
| Mount Holyoke College | South Hadley | Private not-for-profit | 48 | 1 |
| College of the Holy Cross | Worcester | Private not-for-profit | 46 | 1 |
| Salem State University | Salem | Public | 45 | 2 |
| Tufts University | Medford | Private not-for-profit | 45 | 1 |
| Williams College | Williamstown | Private not-for-profit | 41 | 1 |
| Smith College | Northampton | Private not-for-profit | 40 | 1 |
What proofreaders and copy markers earn in Massachusetts
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $51,120. Massachusetts pays above the national figure.
Concentrated here: Massachusetts employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Massachusetts
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Proofreaders and Copy Markers page.
How to become a Proofreader
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Massachusetts
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 5 majors mapped to Proofreaders and Copy Markers5 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 09.0401Journalism
- 23.0101English Language and Literature, General
- 23.1301Writing, General
- 23.1399Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies, Other
- 52.0501Business/Corporate Communications, General
Common questions
Answers for people weighing proofreaders and copy markers programs in Massachusetts.
What degree do you need to become a Proofreader?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is English Language and Literature, General, which awarded 1,150 degrees in Massachusetts in 2024-25, 70.9% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Proofreader?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 5 programs to this occupation. The largest are English Language and Literature, Journalism, Business/Corporate Communications, Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies. Together they graduate about 1,621 people a year in Massachusetts.
How much do proofreaders and copy markers earn in Massachusetts?+
The median is $57,160 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 11.8% above the U.S. median of $51,120. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for proofreaders and copy markers growing?+
BLS projects a -0.6% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 1,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Massachusetts?+
52 institutions in Massachusetts reported graduates from at least one of the 5 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do proofreaders and copy markers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Typesetter, Copy Editor, Proofreader, News Copy Editor among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 43-9081.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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