International, student-centered, Tufts University is dedicated to academic rigor and interdisciplinary research that addresses the most critical issues facing our world. Rooted in the best traditions of learning and scholarship, Tufts is committed to educating tomorrow's global leaders in all disciplines and fields through innovation in its teaching and research.
Since its founding in 1852 by members of the Universalist Church, Tufts has grown from a small liberal arts college into a nonsectarian university of approximately 8,500 students on four campuses. The trustees of Tufts College voted to make Tufts coeducational in 1892, and the first women were graduated in 1896. Although women applied to Tufts almost immediately after its founding in 1852, they were denied admission until the 1890s. With the founding of Jackson College for Women in 1910--named for Cornelia Maria Jackson, the benefactor who did the most to promote women's education at Tufts--women's education gained security at the institution.
At Tufts, creating excellence in education is forged through a philosophy that is forward-thinking, imaginative, and responsive to the fast-paced evolution of technology, politics, the sciences, our global society, and the arts.
Our Schools
The largest division of the university is the Faculty of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering.
This division comprises the College of Liberal Arts, the School of Engineering, the
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the College of Special Studies, and Summer
Session. The university's graduate and professional schools are the Fletcher School of Law
and Diplomacy, the School of Medicine, the School of Dental Medicine, the School of
Veterinary Medicine, the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and the Sackler School of
Graduate Biomedical Sciences.
The schools are located on Tufts' campuses in Medford/Somerville, Boston, and North Grafton, Massachusetts. Students may also study at the Tufts European Center, located in an eleventh-century monastery in Talloires, France.
Tufts is also affiliated with the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and New England Conservatory of Music, providing joint graduate and undergraduate programs and flexible cross-registration.
The Undergraduate Experience
Undergraduate study is on Tufts' Medford/Somerville campus, situated on a hill about five
miles northwest of Boston. It is a tranquil New England setting within easy access by
subway and bus to the cultural, social, and entertainment resources of Boston and
Cambridge.
Tufts is a student-centered institution, where support for the student's personal and academic development is embedded into the organization and ethos of the university. The Faculty of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering is committed to scholarship of the highest order and teaching of exacting quality, while equally dedicated to providing a friendly, open, and intellectually rich and stimulating environment. This environment is one of the reasons Tufts is one of the most highly competitive universities in the country.
Tufts has programs abroad in Britain, Chile, China, France, Germany, Ghana, Hong Kong, Japan, and Spain. More than 40 percent of undergraduates choose to spend their junior year abroad to add a strong international dimension to their education. This experience adds to the international flavor of the Tufts campus when they return for their senior year.
More than 98 percent of enrolling students expect to pursue graduate or professional studies, and annually they are the recipients of such prestigious academic awards as Fulbright, Rhodes, Marshall, and Mellon scholarships and fellowships.