Tufts University
Tufts University at a Glance
Reviewed by James A. Barham, PhD, Vice President and Academic Editor. Influence ranks come from our InfluenceRanking™ methodology; other figures come from federal data, with the year shown under each section. Report an error
Tufts University Featured Rankings
- #1 Best Online MBAs Massachusetts
- #3 Most Influential US Universities by State
- #4 Best Colleges in Massachusetts
- #4 Research Universities in Massachusetts 2026
- #4 Best Grad Schools in Massachusetts 2026
- #4 Best Online Public Health PhD Degree Programs
- #4 Private Colleges in Massachusetts 2026
- #5 Best Online Clinical Nutrition Degree Doctorate Programs
- #16 Education Research Universities
- #23 Best Undergrad Private Colleges
- #24 Best Research Universities for Psychology Majors
- #25 English Research Universities
- #25 Political Science Research Universities
- #25 Best Private Grad Schools 2026
- #25 Economics Research Universities
- #26 The Fastest Traditional MBA Degree Programs
- #27 Best Undergrad Colleges 2026
- #33 Best Undergrad Research Universities 2026
- #40 Best Grad Schools 2026
- #42 Best US Universities 2026
About Tufts University
Featured Alumna
Mariana Mazzucato ranks among our Top Influential Economists Today.
In brief
Tufts University was founded as Tufts College in 1852 in Medford, Massachusetts, north of Cambridge, on land donated by the businessman Charles Tufts, under the auspices of the Universalist Church. It became a university in 1954 and also has a campus in downtown Boston. By our measure of academic influence, it ranks #51 in the United States and #141 in the world. It admitted 11.5% of applicants for fall 2024; admitted students had a median SAT score of 1515 and a median ACT score of 34.
Its medical school opened in 1893, the same year women were first admitted, and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy was founded in 1933. Its growth into a major research university began under President Jean Mayer, from 1976.
Where Tufts’s influence is strongest
Tufts’s influence is led by medicine, political science, and economics. Its strongest broad fields, by US rank in our data, are:
- Medicine: #27 in the US (#58 in the world)
- Political science: #30
- Economics: #32
- Business: #37
- Law: #45
Within those fields, Tufts is a national leader in several specialties:
- #3 in the US: nutrition (behind Harvard and UC Berkeley) and occupational therapy (behind USC and Rush University)
- #6: political geography
- #10: cosmology
By comparison, Tufts sits further back in criminal justice (#100) and mathematics (#105).
How we measure influence: these ranks come from the citations and recognition earned by a school’s faculty and alumni in each discipline, not from surveys or admissions statistics. See our methodology.
Notable people
Tufts is associated with five Nobel laureates, among them the physicist Rainer Weiss, the chemist Roderick MacKinnon, the CT pioneer Allan Cormack, and the economist Eugene Fama. Tufts-connected figures also include the mathematician Norbert Wiener, the engineer Vannevar Bush, the historians Gordon S. Wood and Jill Lepore, eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, the singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman, the showman P.T. Barnum, and the actor William Hurt. Our full lists of Tufts’s most influential alumni and faculty appear below.
Frequently asked questions
Is Tufts hard to get into? Yes. It admitted 11.5% of applicants for fall 2024; the middle half of admitted students scored 720–770 on the SAT reading section and 750–790 on math.
What does Tufts cost after financial aid? Tuition is $73,616 for 2025–26. The average net price for aided students with family incomes of $48,000–$75,000 was $16,897 in 2024–25; it ranged from about $4,195 for incomes below $30,000 to $57,862 for incomes above $110,000.
How do Tufts graduates do? 93.6% of students who started in 2019 graduated within six years, and 96% of first-year students return for a second year. Ten years after starting college, former students had median earnings of $89,187.
What is Tufts best known for academically? By our influence data: medicine, political science, and economics, plus nutrition and occupational therapy, where it ranks third in the country.
According to Wikipedia, Tufts University is a private research university located in the Greater Boston area. The main campus is located in the Walnut Hill neighborhood of the towns of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, with additional facilities located in Boston and Grafton, Massachusetts and in Talloires, France. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. Tufts remained a small liberal arts college until the 1970s, when it transformed into a large research university offering several doctorates.
Tufts University Admissions, Retention, and Graduation Information
| Annual Applications | Acceptance | Retention Rate | Graduation Rate | Median SAT Score | Median ACT Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 34,003 | 11% | 96% | 94% | 1515 | 34 |
Source: U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and NCES); acceptance rate for fall 2024; test scores for fall 2024; applications and enrollment for fall 2023; retention for students who started in fall 2023; graduation rate within six years for students who started in 2019.
How Much Does Tufts University Cost To Attend?
| Tuition and fees (in-state) |
|---|
| $73,616 |
| Income | Average Net Cost |
|---|---|
| 0 - 30K | $4,195 |
| 30K - 48K | $10,240 |
| 48K - 75K | $16,897 |
| 75K - 110K | $29,497 |
| 110K+ | $57,862 |
Source: U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and NCES); tuition and fees for 2025–26; net price for 2024–25, for first-time, full-time students receiving financial aid.
How Much Do Tufts University Graduates Make?
Ten years after starting college, former Tufts University students who received federal financial aid earn a median of $89,187 a year, and 92% of those not still in school are working.
Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard; students who started college in 2011–12 or 2012–13, measured in 2022 and 2023, in 2024 dollars.
Tufts University's Demographics
Students enrolled at any time during the 2023–24 school year, including part-time and online students.
| Student Body | Under-Grads | Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| 14,945 | 7,715 | 7,230 |
Source: National Center for Education Statistics; 12-month enrollment for 2023–24.
Where is Tufts University?
Tufts University is located at Medford, MA 02155-5555.
How Safe is Tufts University?
Tufts University reported 1.8 violent and property offenses on campus per 1,000 students in 2024, fewer than most large residential campuses. See Tufts University’s campus safety information.
Relative to its enrollment, Tufts University has a violent crime rate of 0.06% and a property crime rate of 0.12%. Medford has a violent crime rate of 0.18% and a property (including theft) crime rate of 1.21%. Sources: campus: U.S. Department of Education Campus Safety and Security data, on-campus offenses in 2024 (violent: murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault; property: burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson, which excludes ordinary theft); city: FBI Crime Data Explorer, offenses reported to the city police in 2024.
What Is Tufts University Known For?
Tufts University is known for its academic work in the following disciplines:
- Medical
- Political Science
- Economics
- Business
- Law
- Philosophy
- Education
- Physics
- Biology
- Engineering
- Psychology
- Communications
- Literature
- History
- Computer Science
- Chemistry
- Sociology
- Earth Sciences
- Religious Studies
- Anthropology
- Mathematics
Tufts University's Top Areas of Influence With Degrees Offered
Each rank compares how much Tufts University's faculty and alumni have shaped a field with other schools, using Wikipedia, Wikidata and scholarly citation databases such as Crossref and Semantic Scholar. World and U.S. ranks reflect modern influence; the historical rank counts influence across all time. How we rank influence
Tufts University ranks #27 in the U.S. and #58 worldwide for influence in Medical.
medicine DegreesTufts University ranks #30 in the U.S. and #97 worldwide for influence in Political Science.
political-science DegreesTufts University ranks #32 in the U.S. and #92 worldwide for influence in Economics.
economics DegreesTufts University ranks #37 in the U.S. and #80 worldwide for influence in Business.
business DegreesTufts University ranks #45 in the U.S. and #143 worldwide for influence in Law.
Tufts University ranks #47 in the U.S. and #142 worldwide for influence in Philosophy.
philosophy DegreesTufts University ranks #49 in the U.S. and #164 worldwide for influence in Education.
education DegreesTufts University ranks #50 in the U.S. and #174 worldwide for influence in Physics.
physics DegreesTufts University ranks #51 in the U.S. and #143 worldwide for influence in Biology.
biology DegreesTufts University ranks #53 in the U.S. and #185 worldwide for influence in Engineering.
engineering DegreesTufts University ranks #60 in the U.S. and #111 worldwide for influence in Psychology.
psychology DegreesTufts University ranks #63 in the U.S. and #205 worldwide for influence in Communications.
communications DegreesTufts University ranks #64 in the U.S. and #163 worldwide for influence in Literature.
literature DegreesTufts University ranks #65 in the U.S. and #166 worldwide for influence in History.
history DegreesTufts University ranks #69 in the U.S. and #199 worldwide for influence in Computer Science.
computer-science DegreesTufts University ranks #76 in the U.S. and #321 worldwide for influence in Chemistry.
chemistry DegreesTufts University ranks #76 in the U.S. and #225 worldwide for influence in Sociology.
sociology DegreesTufts University ranks #85 in the U.S. and #332 worldwide for influence in Earth Sciences.
earth-science DegreesTufts University ranks #90 in the U.S. and #399 worldwide for influence in Religious Studies.
religious-studies-hub DegreesTufts University ranks #95 in the U.S. and #252 worldwide for influence in Anthropology.
anthropology DegreesTufts University ranks #105 in the U.S. and #384 worldwide for influence in Mathematics.
math DegreesWho Are Tufts University's Most Influential Alumni?
Tufts University's most influential alumni include professors and professionals in the fields of Medical, Business, and Political Science. Here are some of Tufts University's most famous alumni:
- Norbert Wiener
- An American mathematician, scientist in cybernetics and artificial intelligence.
- Vannevar Bush
- An American electrical engineer and science administrator .
- Eugene Fama
- An American economist and Nobel laureate in Economics.
- Jamie Dimon
- An American banking executive.
- Ram Dass
- An American contemporary spiritual teacher and the author of the 1971 book Be Here Now.
- Gordon S. Wood
- An American historian.
- Roderick MacKinnon
- An American neuroscientist.
- Paul Offit
- An American immunologist.
- Peter Navarro
- An American economist and author, Trump advisor.
- Mariana Mazzucato
- An Italian-American economist, professor .
- John Ciardi
- An American poet, professor, translator.
- Richard N. Goodwin
- An American speechwriter .
Who Are Tufts University's Most Influential Faculty?
Tufts University's most influential faculty include professors in the fields of Medical, Business, and Political Science. Here are some of Tufts University's most famous faculty:
- Philip Alston
- An Australian law scholar.
- Bonnie Berger
- An American mathematician and computer scientist.
- Peniel E. Joseph
- An American scholar.
- Robert Paarlberg
- An American academic.
- Rachel Kyte
- A British academic.
- Kathleen Fisher
- An American computer scientist.
- Lina Ben Mhenni
- A Tunisian Internet activist and blogger.
- Ioannis D. Evrigenis
- A Greek American political philosopher.
- Kelly Greenhill
- An American political scientist.
- Krishna Kumar
- An Indian chemist.
- Dan Margalit
- An American mathematician.
- David R. Snydman
- A Researcher.
