Tufts University facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Tufts University

Latin: Universitas Tuftensis
Former names	Tufts College (1852–1954)
Motto	Pax et Lux (Latin)
Motto in English	"Peace and Light"
Type	Private research university
Established	1852; 173 years ago (1852)
Accreditation	NECHE
Academic affiliations	AAU AICUM NAICU UArctic URA Space-grant
Endowment	$2.4 billion (2022)
President	Sunil Kumar
Provost	Caroline Genco
Academic staff	1,288 (fall 2021)
Students	12,648 (fall 2021)
Undergraduates	6,559 (fall 2021)
Postgraduates	6,089 (fall 2021)
Location	Medford and Somerville , Massachusetts , United States 42°24′22″N 71°07′12″W / 42.406°N 71.120°W / 42.406; -71.120
Campus	Large suburb, 150 acres (0.61 km2)
Other campuses	Boston Grafton Talloires
Newspaper	The Tufts Daily
Colors	Tufts Blue      Brown
Nickname	Jumbos
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division III – NESCAC NEISA
Mascot	Jumbo the Elephant

Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It also has other locations in Boston, Grafton, Massachusetts, and Talloires, France. The university was started in 1852 as Tufts College. It was founded by Christian Universalists who wanted to create a learning place open to everyone.

Tufts offers many different study programs. There are over 90 programs for undergraduate students and 160 for graduate students. These programs are spread across ten schools. Tufts has the oldest graduate school for international relations in the country. This school is called the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. The biggest school at Tufts is the Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences. This includes the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Tufts School of the Museum of Fine Arts. The School of Engineering focuses on new ideas and has strong ties to the original college. Tufts is known for its "very high research activity." It is also a member of the Association of American Universities.

Tufts has a campus in downtown Boston. This campus is home to the medical, dental, and nutrition schools. It also has the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. These schools work with several medical centers nearby. Tufts also offers special degree programs with other schools. These include the New England Conservatory and Sciences Po Paris.

History of Tufts University

Tufts University has a long and interesting history. It started small and grew into a major research university.

How Tufts Began in the 1800s

Tufts College, around 1854

In the 1840s, the Universalist Church wanted to open a college in New England. In 1852, Charles Tufts gave 20 acres of land to the church. This land was a high hill called Walnut Hill. When asked what he would do with the land, Charles Tufts said, "I will put a light on it." This land is still at the center of Tufts' campus today. The campus is now 150 acres and sits in both Somerville and Medford.

Also in 1852, the state of Massachusetts officially approved Tufts College. They said the college should teach "virtue and piety and learning." Hosea Ballou II became the first president in 1853. The first building, College Hall, was finished in 1854. This building is now called Ballou Hall. The campus opened in August 1854. Tufts is now over 170 years old. It is the third-oldest college in the Boston area.

During the American Civil War, Tufts supported the Union. Many graduates served in the Union army. The home of Major George L. Stearns, on campus, was a stop on the Underground Railroad. In 1865, the first civil engineering program started. The Crane Theological School was created in 1869.

New Ideas and Growth in the 1800s

Elmer Capen was the first president who had also studied at Tufts. During his time, many new things happened. Amos Dolbear, a physics professor, set up a working telephone in 1875. It connected his lab to his home. This was two years before Alexander Graham Bell got his patent. Other famous thinkers at Tufts included Frederick Stark Pearson. He helped develop electric power systems used in many cities. Stephen M. Babcock created a test to measure butterfat in milk. This "Babcock Test" is still used today.

P. T. Barnum, a famous showman, was an early supporter of Tufts. He gave money to build the Barnum Museum of Natural History in 1884. This museum held his animal collection, including the stuffed hide of Jumbo the elephant. Jumbo later became the university's mascot. Sadly, a fire in 1975 destroyed the museum and its collection.

In 1892, Tufts started letting women study in undergraduate programs. Metcalf Hall opened in 1893 as a dormitory for women. Also in 1892, Tufts began offering PhD degrees in biology and chemistry. The Medical School opened in 1893. The Boston Dental College joined the university in 1899. The engineering programs also grew. By 1898, the College of Engineering was officially created.

Tufts in the 1900s

Walnut Hill around 1910, before Tisch Library was built. Eaton Hall is in the center.

The Jackson College for Women was started in 1910. It was a separate college next to Tufts. In 1980, it joined the College of Liberal Arts. However, its name is still part of the official arts and sciences division. Women studying arts and sciences received diplomas from Jackson College until 2002.

Tufts continued to grow. In 1933, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy opened. This was the first graduate school for international affairs in the U.S. It started as a joint effort with Harvard University.

During World War II, Tufts was one of many colleges that helped train students for the Navy.

Carmichael Hall on the Rez Quad

In 1955, the school's name changed from Tufts College to Tufts University. This showed its continued growth.

The university grew a lot during the time of President Jean Mayer (1976–1992). He started Tufts' veterinary, nutrition, and biomedical schools. He also helped the university's finances greatly.

The College of Engineering added graduate studies in 1961. It started offering master's and PhD degrees. In 1984, Bernard Marshall Gordon started the Tufts Gordon Institute. This was the first school to teach business skills to engineers. In 1999, the College of Engineering became the School of Engineering.

Tufts in the 2000s

Sophia Gordon Hall (2006) is one of Tufts' newer residence halls

Under President Larry Bacow, Tufts started a big fundraising campaign in 2006. They wanted to raise $1.2 billion. They aimed to make admissions "need-blind" by 2011. This means students would be accepted based on their abilities, not their family's ability to pay. By 2010, they had raised $1.14 billion. Tufts received some of its largest donations ever during this time.

Anthony P. Monaco became Tufts' thirteenth president in 2011.

In 2015, Computer Science became the most popular major at Tufts. It passed International Relations. In 2016, Tufts took over the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. This brought art and design programs into the university.

Tufts also built new facilities. The Science and Engineering Complex (SEC) opened in 2017. It has labs for neuroscience and environmental science. The Joyce Cummings Center, an interdisciplinary building, opened in 2022. It houses departments like computer science and economics.

In 2016, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen gave $10 million to Tufts. This money helped create the Allen Discovery Centers. These centers fund research on how cells communicate.

In 2020, Tufts agreed to pay the MBTA $2 million. This was to rename the nearby Green Line Extension station to "Medford/Tufts." The station opened in December 2022.

After 12 years, Anthony Monaco retired as president in 2023. Sunil Kumar became the 14th president on July 1, 2023.

Tufts Campuses

Tufts University has several campuses. Each campus focuses on different areas of study.

Medford and Somerville Campus

Tufts' main campus is on Walnut Hill in Medford and Somerville. It is about 5 miles from Boston. This campus is where all undergraduate students in Arts & Sciences and Engineering study. It also houses graduate programs for the Fletcher School and other Arts & Sciences and Engineering programs. Part of the campus is in Medford, and part is in Somerville. People often call parts of it "Uphill" and "Downhill."

Packard Hall

The "Uphill" part of the campus has academic buildings and dorms. Many of the oldest buildings are here, built in the 1800s. Ballou Hall, built from 1852 to 1854, is one of the first buildings. It now holds the offices of the president and other leaders. Other old buildings include Packard Hall (1856) and Goddard Chapel (1882). The "Uphill" area also has great views of the Boston skyline.

The "Downhill" part of campus includes the engineering school. Notable buildings here include Bromfield-Pearson Hall (1893) and Curtis Hall (1894). Other important buildings downhill are the Mayer Campus Center and the Dewick Macphie Dining Hall.

Boston Campus

The School of Medicine, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, School of Dental Medicine, and the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy are in Boston. They are in the Chinatown area, next to Tufts Medical Center.

The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University (SMFA) is in the Fenway neighborhood of Boston. It is right next to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A new train line, the Green Line Extension, now connects the SMFA campus directly to the main Tufts campus in Medford.

Grafton Campus

The Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine is in Grafton, Massachusetts. This campus is west of Boston and covers 634 acres. This school also has a farm clinic in Connecticut and a lab on Cape Cod.

Talloires Campus in France

The Tufts European Center in Talloires, France

Tufts has a campus in Talloires, France. It is called the Tufts European Center. This center is in an old Benedictine priory built in the 11th century. Donald and Charlotte MacJannet bought the priory in 1958. They used it as a summer camp before giving it to Tufts in 1978.

Each summer, the center hosts study programs. Students live with local families. The Tufts Summit Program is for high school students. Tufts in Talloires is for Tufts undergraduates. Tufts in Annecy helps students learn French. The center also hosts international meetings. It was the site of the Talloires Declaration, which brought universities together to work on sustainability.

How Tufts is Organized

Anderson Hall, part of the School of Engineering

Goddard Hall, home to the Fletcher School

Tufts University is a private school. It is run by a group called the Trustees of Tufts College. This group has between 28 and 41 members. They choose new members themselves. The president of Tufts University is the main leader of the school. The current president, Sunil Kumar, started on July 1, 2023.

Tufts has ten different schools. Each school has its own teachers and is led by a dean. The School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering offer both undergraduate and graduate degrees. Other schools offer specific types of degrees, like the School of the Museum of Fine Arts.

The Tisch College was founded in 2000. Its goal is to teach students how to be active citizens. It helps with community service and other programs. The college was renamed in 2006 after a large gift from Jonathan Tisch. It is known for trying to make public service a key part of university learning. Tisch College offers a "1+4 Bridge year program." This lets students take a gap year for community service before starting at Tufts. Students in this program have helped children, cared for animals, and worked on renewable energy projects.

Academics at Tufts

Tufts is known for its strong academic programs and research.

University Rankings

In 2024, U.S. News & World Report ranked Tufts 40th among national universities. This ranking was tied with Rutgers University–New Brunswick and the University of Washington.

In 2022, Forbes ranked Tufts 32nd among private colleges. Tufts University is officially approved by the New England Commission of Higher Education.

Newsweek named Tufts one of the "25 New Ivies" in 2006. The Princeton Review ranked Tufts 14th for happiest students in 2010–2011. Its study abroad program was ranked third in the country. Tufts also ranks high for the number of students who become Fulbright scholars and Teach for America volunteers. Tufts was called the fifth "hottest school" of the decade from 2000 to 2010.

How to Get Into Tufts

Undergraduate Admissions

Admissions statistics
2022 entering classChange vs. 2017
Admit rate	9% ( −5.3)
Yield rate	50.6% ( +4.4)
Test scores middle 50%
SAT Total	1460–1560 ( +65 median)
ACT Composite	33–35 ( +1.5 median)

U.S. News & World Report says Tufts' undergraduate admission is "most selective." For the class of 2027, Tufts accepted 10% of the 34,002 students who applied. About 1,600 students are in each freshman class. For the class of 2024, the middle range of SAT scores was 1420–1550. For the ACT, it was 33–35.

Since 2006, Tufts has tried new ways to evaluate applicants. They invite students to send YouTube videos with their applications. This helps them see students' creativity and other non-academic skills. Tufts still looks at SAT scores and other traditional things. Tufts also accepts undocumented students.

In 1856, Tufts asked for good character statements and exams in Greek, history, Latin, and math. By 1905, the exams were longer and more complex. By 1925, Tufts set a limit of 650 male students. Standardized tests and interviews were in place by 1946.

Working with Other Schools

Aidekman Arts Center, Tufts University

Students can study for five years with the New England Conservatory. The Cosmology department also has joint classes with MIT. The Fletcher School has dual degree programs with schools like Harvard Law School. Many academic groups allow research between local schools. Students can also study abroad at universities like University of Oxford and University of Paris. Every year, over 500 undergraduate students study abroad.

Libraries and Museums

Entrance to Tisch Library, the main library on campus

Tufts' first library building, Eaton Memorial Library, opened in 1908. It was built with money from Andrew Carnegie. In 1995, the main library was expanded and renamed Tisch Library.

Today, the Tufts University Library System has over three million books. The main library, Tisch Library, holds about 2.7 million books. Other libraries are at the Boston and Grafton campuses. Students can also use libraries at other schools in the Boston area. Tufts is part of SHARES, which gives students access to libraries at schools like Brown, Columbia, and Yale. Students can also apply to use Harvard's Library System. Tufts also runs the Perseus Project, which is a digital library of humanities resources.

Tufts has an art collection with art from ancient times to today. It includes 2,000 works. Famous artists in the collection include John Singer Sargent, Albrecht Dürer, and Pablo Picasso. Art from the collection is shown at the Aidekman Arts Center.

Student Life at Tufts

Tufts has a diverse student body. Students come from all 50 states and 71 countries. About 15% of undergraduate students are international.

Student Government

Students at Tufts have three main ways to be part of student government. These are the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate, the TCU Judiciary (TCUJ), and the CSL (Committee on Student Life). The Senate is led by the student body president.

Student Publications and Broadcasting

The Tufts Daily is the student newspaper. The Tufts Observer, started in 1895, is the school's biweekly magazine. The Zamboni is Tufts' humor magazine. The Princeton Review has called Tufts' newspaper one of the best in the country.

Tufts also has its own television station (TUTV). It produces and broadcasts films, news, and comedy shows. TUTV started in 1977 and has about 40 student volunteers. Tufts also has a radio station, WMFO, which broadcasts on 91.5 FM. It started in 1970.

Student Activism

Student protest for fossil fuel divestment

In 1969, Tufts was a center for Civil Rights activism. Students protested unfair hiring practices by a construction company. These protests led to new hiring policies at Tufts and other universities. They also led to the creation of the Africana Center.

Greek Life

About 25% of students at Tufts are part of Greek life organizations, like fraternities and sororities.

Tufts Athletics

Tufts competes in NCAA Division III sports. They are part of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). Their mascot is Jumbo the Elephant. Jumbo was a real elephant from P. T. Barnum's circus. Barnum was one of the first leaders of Tufts College. Legend says Jumbo saved a younger elephant from a train. Jumbo's stuffed skin was given to the school. After a fire in 1975, only his tail remained. Now, a statue of Jumbo is on campus. Some of Jumbo's ashes are kept in a peanut butter jar in the athletics director's office. Students rub it for good luck.

Tufts has become one of the top athletic schools in Division III. In 2022, Tufts won the Learfield Director's Cup, which ranks top athletic programs. The men's lacrosse team won Tufts' first NCAA team championship in 2010. They also won in 2014 and 2015. The women's field hockey team won a national championship in 2012. The women's softball team won three national championships in a row from 2013 to 2015. The men's soccer team won national championships in 2014 and 2016. The men's swim and dive team won their first NESCAC Championship in 2018.

"Tuftonia's Day" is the Tufts fight song. It was written in 1912. It is played at football games and a cappella concerts.

Stratton Hall, a downhill residence hall

Tufts Traditions

The Tufts cannon, painted almost every night by students. Here it shows support for Japan after the 2011 earthquake.

A Cappella Groups

Tufts has several a cappella singing groups. The Beelzebubs have performed on TV shows like NBC's The Sing-Off and Glee. Other popular groups include the Amalgamates and the Jackson Jills, which is Tufts' oldest female singing group.

Famous People from Tufts

Many famous people have studied or taught at Tufts University. These include:

• Three Nobel Prize winners
• Twelve Pulitzer Prize winners
• Five state governors
• Two U.S. Senators
• Four Emmy Award winners
• One Grammy Award winner
• Three Academy Award winners

Tufts alumni in government include Mulatu Teshome Wirtu, a former President of Ethiopia. Kostas Karamanlis was a former Prime Minister of Greece. Shashi Tharoor was a former Under-Secretary General at the United Nations. Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Scott Brown were U.S. Senators. Bill Richardson was a former Governor of New Mexico.

Successful business leaders from Tufts include Pierre Omidyar, who founded eBay. Jamie Dimon is the CEO of JPMorgan Chase. Jonathan Tisch is the CEO of Loews Hotels.

In media and arts, alumni include David Faber from CNBC. Meredith Vieira is a journalist and TV personality. William Hurt and Hank Azaria are Academy Award-winning actors. Tracy Chapman is a Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter.

Other notable alumni include Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan. Frederick Hauck was a spacecraft commander for the Space Shuttle Discovery.

Some famous people who attended Tufts but did not finish their degrees include actress Jessica Biel and actor Rainn Wilson.

Current and former Tufts faculty include Nobel Laureates Allan M. Cormack, Paul Samuelson, and Wassily Leontief. Japanese author Haruki Murakami also taught at Tufts.

• Notable Tufts University alumni include:
• 

  Eugene Fama, Nobel Prize-winning economist (BA, 1960)

• 

  Roderick MacKinnon, Nobel Prize in Chemistry recipient (MD, 1982)

• 

  Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia and recipient of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize (MA, 1981)

• 

  Victor McKusick, geneticist, known as the father of medical genetics (COL, 1943)

• 

  Vannevar Bush, inventor and science administrator, founder of Raytheon (BS, 1913; MS, 1913)

• 

  Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase (BA, 1978)

• 

  Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay (BS, 1988)

• 

  Dov Charney, Founder and CEO of American Apparel (did not graduate)

• 

  Susan Decker, Former president of Yahoo! Inc. (BS 1984)

• 

  Shashi Tharoor, former Under-Secretary General at the United Nations (MA, 1976; PhD, 1978)

• 

  Scott Brown, Diplomat and United States Senator for Massachusetts (BA, 1981)

• 

  Daniel Patrick Moynihan, U.S. Senator from New York (BS, 1948; MA, 1949; PhD, 1961)

• 

  Tracy Chapman, Grammy Award-winning artist (BA, 1986)

• 

  Michelle Kwan, American figure skater and two time Olympic medalist (MA, 2011)

• 

  Jessie G. Garnett, Boston's first black woman dentist and the first black woman to graduate from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine.(BA, 1920)

• 

  Meredith Vieira, American journalist, talk show and game show host (BA, 1975)

• 

  Gordon Wood, historian, Pulitzer Prize winning author (BA, 1955)

• 

  Peter Gallagher, American actor, musician, and writer (BA,1977)

• 

  William Hurt, Academy Award-winning actor (BA, 1972)

• 

  Hank Azaria, American actor, voice actor, comedian, and producer (BA, 1985)

• 

  Oliver Platt, Stage and screen actor (BA, 1983)

• 

  David Faber, financial journalist (BA, 1985)

See also

In Spanish: Universidad Tufts para niños