Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. 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. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and is a member of the Association of American Universities, which emphasizes strong academic research.

Tufts offers over 90 undergraduate and 160 graduate programs across ten schools in the greater Boston area and Talloires, France. It has the country's oldest graduate school of international relations, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. The largest school is the School of Arts and Sciences, which includes both the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, which is affiliated with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The School of Engineering offers an entrepreneurial focus through its Gordon Institute and maintains close connections with the original college.

Tufts has a campus in Downtown Boston that houses the medical, dental, and nutrition schools and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, affiliated with several medical centers in the area. Several programs are affiliated with nearby Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and joint undergraduate degree programs are offered with the New England Conservatory, the College of Europe, and Sciences Po Paris. Other programs are associated with the University of Paris, University of Oxford, London School of Economics, and constituents of the University of London.

Tufts alumni and affiliates include ten Nobel Prize laureates, twelve Pulitzer Prize winners, five state governors, two U.S. Senators, four Emmy Award winners, three Academy Award winners, and National Academy members. Tufts has also graduated four Rhodes Scholars, five Marshall Scholars, five Truman Scholars, and five Goldwater scholars.