Tufts University is a university located in Medford, Massachusetts (near Boston). In 1852, Charles Tufts founded Tufts College, and donated the land for the campus on Walnut Hill, the highest point in Medford. Tufts said that he wanted to set a "light on the hill". Originally affiliated with the Universalist Church, Tufts is now non-sectarian. The name changed to "Tufts University" in 1954, although the corporate name remains "the Trustees of Tufts College".

Tufts University is recognized among the premier universities in the United States. Tufts also enjoys a global reputation for academic excellence and for the preparation of students as leaders in a wide range of professions. A Research I university, Tufts has extensive and highly regarded liberal arts, sciences, and engineering programs that draw outstanding students from around the world with the highest academic achievement and standing.

More than 98 percent of enrolling students expect to pursue graduate or professional study. Approximately 40 percent of all undergraduates attending Tufts pursue course work outside the United States to add a strong international dimension to their field of study, and the university's language studies are both popular and rigorous. Tufts balances teaching with research, and students are encouraged to develop strong analytical skills. A growing number of innovative research initiatives and joint degree programs are available for both undergraduate and graduate students in liberal arts, sciences, and engineering and the university's seven graduate and professional schools, including:

• Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University (the only one in New England), with signature programs in international veterinary medicine, equine sports medicine, wildlife medicine, veterinary medicine ethics and values, and biotechnology

• The distinguished Fletcher School, America's oldest graduate school for international relations

• The globally renowned Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy with the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center focused on the impact of nutrition on healthy aging

• An internationally affiliated School of Dental Medicine that trains dentists as expert clinicians with strong biomedical backgrounds

• The Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences and School of Medicine, which have clinical affiliations with thousands of doctors and researchers in the U.S. and around the world, as well as at its affiliated hospitals in Massachusetts (including New England Medical Center and Bay State Hospital). According to Science Watch, Tufts University Medical School rates sixth among U.S medical schools for the impact of its medical research.

As of 2003, Tufts University enrolls nearly 9,000 full-time students on three campuses. The Medford/Somerville campus is the main campus, home to the School of Arts and Sciences (including the College of Liberal Arts and Jackson College, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and the Summer Session); the School of Engineering; and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

The Boston campus emphasizes medical and life sciences, with the School of Medicine; the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences; the School of Dental Medicine; the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy; and the USDA Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging. At the Grafton campus west of Boston, Tufts runs the only veterinary school in New England.

Summer programs in Europe are coordinated through a satellite campus in Talloires, France. Tufts has dual degree programs with the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and the New England Conservatory of Music. Some of the strongest areas at Tufts include Economics and International Relations. Tufts has a significant amount of international students (roughly 10%) and a large Jewish population (roughly 25%).

In 1910, the Jackson College for Women was established as a "coordinate" college adjacent to the Tufts campus. Jackson College was later integrated with Tufts College, but is recognized in the name of the undergraduate arts and sciences division, the "College of Liberal Arts and Jackson College." The campus land that was Jackson College is in the city of Somerville.

Tufts University's mission embraces teaching, research, and public service in the United States and around the world. Every year Tufts graduates physicians, diplomats, dentists, veterinarians, entrepreneurs, teachers, engineers, researchers, scientists, and liberal arts professionals who will be leaders in their chosen fields and who believe it is their responsibility to contribute to the advancement of humanity and to the improvement of today's global community and environment.

Tufts believes its focus on its students and the profession of teaching leads to its agile and responsive research efforts and a record of achievement that earned Tufts its Research I rating from the Carnegie Commission, placing it among only thirty-eight private institutions so recognized, and its rank as one of the top universities in the United States by U.S. News & World Report.