A private R1 research university in Medford, MA, admitting 11.49% of applicants with strong programs in international relations, engineering, and pre-medicine.
Medford, Massachusetts
Tufts University is a private R1 research university in Medford, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, founded in 1852. It enrolls 7,061 undergraduates and 6,473 graduate students across the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering, and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA). Social sciences, engineering, biology, and international relations account for the largest shares of bachelor's degrees.
Tufts holds a Doctoral University: Very High Research Activity (R1) Carnegie classification and is accredited through the New England Commission on Higher Education (NECHE). Tufts is test-optional; submitting SAT or ACT scores is not required. Tufts is known particularly for international relations and diplomacy (through the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, a graduate school), veterinary medicine (Cummings School), engineering, and pre-medicine.
Official website: tufts.edu
UCD scores every college on four pillars: Outcomes, Value, Affordability, and Selectivity. Within peer group A (four-year selective institutions), Tufts scores 69.36 overall, rated Fair. Selectivity scores 97.38, reflecting an 11.49% admit rate. Outcomes (96.73) reflects a 93.51% six-year graduation rate. Value scores 23.07 and Affordability scores 4.19, the weakest pillars, driven by an average net price of $39,998 and a federal loan rate of 18.86% relative to earnings of $83,214 at ten years. All scores use verified federal data only.
Tufts is among the most selective universities in the country, admitting 11.49% of applicants. Tufts is test-optional; submitting SAT or ACT scores is not required. Students who submit scores typically average 1,513 on the SAT, with the middle 50% ACT range between 33 and 35.
Tufts uses the Common App with required supplemental essays; Tufts is known for a specific supplemental question that invites creative or unconventional responses. The Early Decision deadline is November 1 (binding); the Regular Decision deadline is January 1. Students apply to either the School of Arts and Sciences or the School of Engineering; transfer between schools is possible after enrollment.
Acceptance rate over the last five admission cycles. The trend tells you whether Tufts University is getting harder, easier, or staying about the same.
Tufts charges $70,704 in tuition plus $18,588 in room and board, bringing the estimated total cost of attendance to approximately $89,000 before aid. The average net price after all grants and scholarships is $39,998. For families earning under $30,000, the average net price is $11,284. For families earning between $30,001 and $48,000, the net price averages $9,811.
For families earning between $75,001 and $110,000, the net price averages $23,311. For families earning above $110,000, it averages $58,570. Tufts does not have a no-loan aid policy; the federal loan rate of 18.86% and median debt of $16,250 reflect loan-inclusive aid packages. Tufts does not guarantee to meet 100% of demonstrated financial need for all admitted students.
Published cost of attendance, the sticker price before grants and scholarships. Most students underestimate room & board and other expenses.
Application fee: $75 (one-time, due at submission)
Aid is need-based, so net price varies by family income. Here's what each bracket typically pays after grants and scholarships.
Cumulative federal-loan debt across the full borrowing distribution. The 10th and 90th percentiles bracket the typical range; the median sits in the middle.
Median federal-loan debt at graduation broken down by demographic. Each slice's size is proportional to the dollar amount that group typically borrows.
Tufts completes the large majority of the students it enrolls. The six-year graduation rate is 93.51% for full-time, first-time bachelor's-seeking students. The four-year rate is 89.50%, and first-year retention stands at 95.71%. The federal loan rate of 18.86% and median debt of $16,250 reflect Tufts's aid structure; the relatively lower median debt compared to the loan rate suggests that students who do borrow tend to take smaller loans.
Tufts graduates earn above the national median for private research universities. Median earnings are $68,337 six years after first enrolling and $83,214 at ten years. At the ten-year mark, 83.33% of former students earn more than a typical high school graduate, a rate below the peer group average.
The earnings figures reflect Tufts's concentration in international relations, social sciences, and pre-medicine, fields with below-median early earnings and strong long-term trajectories. Engineering and biology graduates typically earn above the institutional median; international relations and humanities graduates reflect career pathways in government, non-profit, and policy sectors where early earnings are moderate.
Median annual earnings 6, 8, and 10 years after students first enrolled.
Mean annual earnings 10 years after entry, segmented by demographic. Reveals gaps the headline median can't show.
Median earnings for female grads ten years after first enrolling here.
Median earnings for male grads ten years after first enrolling here.
Earnings of grads from the bottom-third of family incomes at entry.
Earnings of grads from the middle-third of family incomes at entry.
Earnings of grads from the top-third of family incomes at entry.
Share of completer-cohort borrowers paying down at least $1 of principal at the 1-, 3-, 5-, and 7-year mark. Climbing rates show graduates settling into careers and managing debt; flat or declining rates are a warning.
Tufts enrolls 7,061 undergraduates on its Medford campus, which sits on a hill between the Boston neighborhoods of Somerville and Medford, accessible to downtown Boston by T (Green Line extension) in approximately 20 minutes. White students account for 40.63% of undergraduates; Asian 16.84%, Hispanic 10.11%, and Black 6.06%.
Twelve percent of undergraduates receive Pell grants, and 15.30% are first-generation college students, both below average for selective private universities. The Boston metro area provides access to major employers in consulting, life sciences, technology, finance, and healthcare; Tufts's international relations focus creates pipelines into government, NGO, and international policy careers.
Undergraduate student body composition reported to the US Department of Education.
Where students live, learn, and connect at Tufts University. The campus setting, housing profile, and signals that shape day-to-day life here.
Tufts University offers an extensive catalog of programs: 163 distinct programs across 26 majors. Below are its strongest majors, each with flagship programs and typical earnings. Open a major to explore it in depth, or browse the full program catalog.
Tufts operates at a 10:1 student-to-faculty ratio. 64.22% of instruction is delivered by full-time faculty, below the peer group average. Instructional spending per full-time equivalent student is $28,034 per year. The endowment stands at $2.53 billion, lower than most peer schools given Tufts's tuition pricing.
The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy is a graduate school for international relations, law, and diplomacy, consistently ranked among the top such programs in the world; undergraduates do not enroll in Fletcher but can take some courses. Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine is one of the four oldest veterinary schools in the country. Tufts School of Medicine trains primary care physicians and operates Tufts Medical Center in downtown Boston.
1,030 instructional faculty across 4 ranks. The rank mix shows how many senior faculty are teaching versus contingent or junior staff, with average salary equated to a 9-month contract.
| Rank | Faculty Count | Share | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Professors | 288 | 28% | $171,304 |
| Associate Professors | 240 | 23% | $125,773 |
| Assistant Professors | 306 | 30% | $103,061 |
| Lecturers | 196 | 19% | $94,192 |
Tufts's defining strengths are its 11.49% selectivity, 93.51% six-year graduation rate, Boston metro access, and the intellectual environment created by proximity to Fletcher, Cummings Vet, and Tufts Medical Center. UCD 69.36 Fair is the lowest score in this batch, driven primarily by Value (23.07) and Affordability (4.19). The core challenge: at $39,998 average net price and 18.86% federal loan rate, Tufts is expensive relative to its ten-year earnings of $83,214; the endowment of $2.53 billion limits how aggressively Tufts can subsidize aid compared to schools like Vanderbilt ($10.25B) or Rice ($7.93B).
The full-time faculty rate of 64.22% is also below peers. Best fit for students targeting international relations, pre-medicine, engineering, or veterinary medicine who can afford the high cost or qualify for significant need-based aid, and who want Boston proximity in a smaller residential campus.
The questions below address what students and families most commonly search about Tufts: how selective admissions are, what the Fletcher School is, how cost compares to the quality of education, and what graduates earn.
One federal dataset, 3,839 colleges. The median school costs $16,371 a year, admits 78% of applicants, and enrolls 1,259 students. The shape of US higher ed.
Across 1,645 four-year colleges, graduation rates climb steadily with selectivity, from 54% at open-admission schools to 93% at the most exclusive. The gap is real.
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