Students in search for details about Tufts’s tuition will find a striking change to the webpages dedicated to cost-of-attendance information. Now, front and center on the “Tuition and Aid” tab of the Undergraduate Admissions site, there is a bright yellow rectangle containing the words, “Tufts Tuition Pact.”
The university recently announced this commitment, which will provide grants to cover full tuition for families earning less than $150,000 per year, a major step in access for low-income students. Another click and some scrolling—passing yet more information on the tuition pact and the net decreased tuition cost—will reveal that the total cost of attendance now tops $90,000. “The clarity of the ‘tuition-free for families earning under $150,000’ message is designed to break down cost barriers early in the college search process and encourage students to see Tufts as a realistic option,” Dean of Admissions and Enrollment Management JT Duck said.
However, tuition is not the only factor that impacts the experience and outcomes of low-income students. In recent years, Tufts has fallen in national college rankings, some of which have incorporated more of a focus on schools’ facilitation of socioeconomic mobility, such as outcomes for first-generation and low-income students. The Wall Street Journal now publishes a list that ranks colleges in order of their tendency to enhance students’ social mobility. Tufts ranked 479th out of 500 schools, posting a score of 1.4 out of 100.
A 2017 study by The Equality of Opportunity Project arrived at more positive conclusions. Tufts ranked No. 24 out of all 2,395 colleges studied for the “chance a poor student has to become a rich adult,” measured by the share of children who were from the bottom fifth of incomes as students and moved to the top fifth as adults. It should be noted, though, that Tufts also ranked as one of the lowest in its share of students from the bottom fifth, meaning the university had fewer high-need students to support.
On the other hand, the recently published inaugural list of LinkedIn’s Top Colleges in the U.S. ranked universities solely based on long-term career outcomes, placing Tufts at No. 16. This list used data like job and internship placement, network strength, and knowledge breadth. Taken together, these sources reflect different metrics for measuring student outcomes, constructing an inconsistent narrative of Tufts’s capacity to advance its students. In encouraging social mobility, universities must consider myriad factors like career preparation, social integration, and comprehensive education about their available resources. Therefore, the announcement of the pact raises the broader question of how well Tufts holistically helps high-need students to succeed during their four years and beyond.
Tufts has some specific student programs that are geared towards helping students take advantage of their experience. Building Engagement and Access for Students at Tufts (BEAST) is a pre-orientation program that “focuses on the unique social and cultural experiences specific to students who may be the first in their families to attend college, and for students seeking guidance on navigating financial and academic resources at Tufts.”
Meg Santos, student coordinator for BEAST and Peer Leader at the FIRST Center, an on-campus social mobility resource, explained that BEAST focuses on exposing freshmen to the resources at Tufts that they can use to acclimate to campus. This can include familiarizing them with FIRST Center and Career Center resources, hosting CMHS workshops, and presenting on financial aid. “I would say that definitely helps with upward mobility because…it’s the first thing that they do at pre-orientation, making sure they know what Tufts has to offer right off the bat so that they spend the four years here valuably,” Santos says.
However, she also acknowledges that those who don’t participate in these programs might lack the knowledge or connections to have the same experience. “Knowing that these things are available is a hurdle because I only knew about that from doing BEAST,” she said. “There’s also a gap [between]…FIRST students who don’t do BEAST, because, say they want to get involved in the center…since BEAST is already a community, it feels like they can’t insert themselves in that.”
As a liberal arts school, Tufts also lacks pre-professional programs in subjects like business, finance, pre-law, or management that typically funnel students into some of the highest-paying jobs. However, many students still pursue careers in these fields, and the university has provided more support in recent years. In 2013, Tufts launched the Tufts Finance Initiative with the support of alumni who have been successful in business and finance. Tufts also offers related minors in disciplines such as finance and entrepreneurship.
In addition to these resources, students often utilize student-run pre-professional groups for help with securing internships and jobs. Renee Shah is the president of Tufts Financial Group (TFG), the biggest pre-professional group at Tufts. TFG is generally geared towards students with no background in finance and helps them decide if they are interested in pursuing a career in the field, as well as helping them with the recruitment process. The organization develops a career course for underclassmen that Shah says helps to supplement the existing finance curriculum at Tufts.
“The finance minor [is] focused very much on a certain area of finance… you’ll understand finance from an economics point [of view] or…from how your professors view it differently,” Shah said. “But, obviously, actually getting a job is very different from just learning about it.”
Although the Career Center has resources for students pursuing this path, Shah says that TFG members largely rely on the club’s alumni connections that are so critical in the job search. “We got [alumni] way more involved,” Shah said. “For finance, it’s different, because alumni…understand how hard it is to break into finance from a liberal arts school, so they care a lot more.”
For students who aren’t involved in these career groups and that lack the same networks, the Career Center acts as their primary channel. According to an email from Susannah Krenn, Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing, the Career Center offers personalized advising, daily Career Labs, and a variety of events, as well as mentoring opportunities. She elaborated on the various ways that they work with the FIRST Center to support first-generation and low-income students.
“Our support includes resources such as the Professional Development Fund, internship grants, and the First-Gen Career Fair Walkthrough, all designed to increase access and career readiness,” Krenn wrote. “Additionally, the First-Generation Alumni Mentorship Program connects students with alumni who share similar backgrounds, offering valuable guidance, and real-world insight as they navigate their career paths.”
Students have different perspectives on the utility of the Career Center. “Honestly, I’m not really sure how many people go through the Career Center,” Shah told us. “All of my friends who have gotten internships definitely did not.”
On the other hand, Santos found the Career Center to be very helpful, although mostly with things like resume feedback, rather than playing an active role in her job search. “Just having that there is so awesome,” she said. “I can go there whenever I need, and it’s part of my tuition.”
In terms of the Tuition Pact, students still have questions. “I guess I’m just curious where the money came from,” she said. “I’m also interested in how they came up with that number and also how that’s going to change the other costs of coming to Tufts.” Santos expressed concerns specifically about the rising costs of meal swipes and takeaway options on campus, as well as a new $500 orientation fee. “I think there was an option to get aid for the orientation fee,” she said, but reported that she was essentially told, “We’re not trying to publicize that.”
According to Associate Dean of Financial Aid Meghan Hardy-Smith, the current amount of need-based aid “has been possible through a combination of institutional funding, philanthropy, and federal and state resources,” and the Tufts Tuition Pact is a continuation of this commitment. The pact will cover the cost of tuition only, and not expenses like housing, meal plans, and school. However, qualifying families may still receive additional aid to cover these expenses based on demonstrated need.
In the past, Tufts has provided a striking amount of transparency regarding the funding of financial aid, particularly during moments of transition in financial aid policies. In a 1985 newsletter about undergraduate financial aid at Tufts, the Dean of Financial Aid at the time, Grant E. Curtis, described a radical shift in how these policies were financed. Aid from the federal government, in the form of Pell Grants and GSL Loans, decreased 20 percent, and Tufts scholarships increased proportionally to account for the difference. Financial aid brochures from the 1980s and 1990s also included information on major sources of financial aid and the total amounts that came from university, federal, state, and private funding each year.
Comparing this history with the present, the university is seeing a similar turning point. In light of the uncertainty of funding under the Trump administration, the announcement of the Tufts Tuition Pact policy may signal the university’s repositioning on financial aid. Outside of newsletters, the university shares the average grant aid per student, today, as well as the number of students receiving aid. However, it does not make readily available the total amount of aid that students get from Tufts or other sources.
The aforementioned brochures often outlined the total cost of attendance, which was $9,800 in 1980 and reached $34,000 by the turn of the century. Today, the new financial aid policy aims to make a Tufts education accessible for students when it may seem more out of reach than ever. It remains to be seen if Tufts will complement this promise of affordability with the resources and support that will help first generation and low income students to thrive during and after their time on campus.
Artwork by Nicole Mousad