Tufts University is a private institution located in Medford/Somerville, just outside of downtown Boston, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Founded in 1852, the school has a total undergraduate enrollment of 5,250. Tufts is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and the French Alps. In addition to its main campus in Medford/Somerville, Tufts has additional campuses in Boston's Chinatown neighborhood, where its health sciences program is located, and in the suburb of Grafton, home to the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. Tufts has a 150 acre suburban campus and uses a semester-based academic calendar.

The School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering serve both undergraduate and graduate students. Tufts boasts the United States' oldest graduate school of international relations, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. The other graduate programs include the highly ranked School of Medicine, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, and the School of Dental Medicine. The university emphasizes active citizenship and public service in all of its disciplines and is known for its internationalism and study abroad programs. Tufts' permanent art collection features works by Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol and John Singer Sargent. Notable alumni include Kostas Karamanlis, former Prime Minister of Greece; Shashi Tharoor, former United Nations Under-Secretary General and Indian Minister; Scott Brown, Republican ex-U S Senator from Massachusetts, and Pierre Omidyar, eBay founder.

All freshmen and sophomores are required to live on campus in dorms, suites or university-owned houses or apartments. Tufts' student groups include the Cycling Club; the Beelzebubs, an all-male a cappella group; and the Freethought Society. Approximately 15 percent of students are affiliated with Greek life. Tufts sports teams compete in the New England Small College Athletic Conference—the NESCAC—in NCAA Division III. Their mascot is Jumbo, which is the only college mascot to appear in Webster's Dictionary.