International Appeal

The newest Kaplan/Newsweek College Resource Guide ranks Tufts as the “Hottest School for Study Abroad,” celebrating the university’s international approach to learning.

Medford/Somerville, Mass. [08-16-04] As the newest round of college guides hits the newsstands, Tufts is once again in the spotlight. Following another record-breaking admissions cycle, the university has been named one of “America’s 25 Hot Schools” by Kaplan/Newsweek College Guide, which cited Tufts’ strong international focus and study abroad programs as tops in the nation.

“Long before globalization became a cliché, Tufts administrators were figuring out how to teach students to be citizens of the world,” noted the Kaplan/Newsweek 2005 College Resource Guide, which highlighted schools in categories including Diversity, Tech-savvy, and Entrepreneurs. “This translates into a strong language requirement, and a chance to learn a new culture in one of Tufts’s own centers in such countries as Germany, Chile, China or Ghana,” reported the guide.

A huge number of students embrace the international opportunity every year. About 40 percent of undergraduates spend time outside of the United States at some point during their time at Tufts.

“Tufts likes students who like to study abroad,” Tufts director of overseas programs, Sheila Bayne, told Kaplan/Newsweek.

“Tufts likes to portray an international spirit and therefore there are a lot of options for going abroad and it is really encouraged,” reported a Tufts graduate in Kaplan/Newsweek. The guide noted that Tufts has a summer program in Talloires, France, as well as year-long or semester-long programs in France, Germany, Spain, Great Britain, Russia, Ghana, Chile and Japan.

The number of Tufts undergraduates who have pursued coursework outside of the United States over the past three years has remained close to 500.

But the international experience does not end with graduation.

Among institutions with fewer than 5,000 undergraduates, Tufts is consistently one of the top five schools whose students join the Peace Corps.

Tufts is also a leader in Fulbright Scholarships – ranking 13th in the nation. Over the last six years, Tufts students have won 70 of the prestigious grants to study or work around the world.

And “for graduates who find their calling in working overseas, there’s Tufts famed Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy just down the street,” reported Kaplan/Newsweek.

The ranking follows another record-setting admissions season for Tufts, which saw nearly 15,000 applicants for the class of 2008. “Tufts now offers powerhouse academic programs that demand respect,” reported the guide, “Benefiting from their affiliation with Tufts’s graduate schools, undergraduate programs in preprofessional areas are very strong.”

According to Kaplan/Newsweek, the “Hot Schools” list is “based on admissions trends and extensive interviews with a broad array of educators, admissions officers, students and other longtime observers of the admissions process.”

“The applicant pool for each of these schools has grown much stronger in recent years,” reported Kaplan/Newsweek, “Not only in sheer numbers of students applying, but also in test scores, grades and extracurricular accomplishments.”