Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences - Organization and Degree Programs

Organization and Degree Programs

The School of Arts and Sciences is under the supervision of a dean, appointed by the president and the provost, with the approval of the Trustees of Tufts College (the university's governing board). The dean of arts and sciences oversees undergraduate and graduate education in 24 academic departments, more than 10 interdisciplinary programs, and 20 masters and Ph.D. programs. The School of Arts and Sciences consists of three degree granting units and the Summer Session:

The College of Liberal Arts & Jackson College (LA&J)

The College of Liberal Arts awards the degrees of bachelor of arts and bachelor of science after the completion of 34 credit hours (normally eight semesters of full-time study). Students may select a major from among 30 academic departments or interdisciplinary programs, or chose to pursue a double major, or "plan of study" which allows students to design their own majors. Currently, the most popular undergraduate majors are international relations, economics, political science, psychology, biology, child development, and English. Until 2002, male undergraduates received their degrees from the College of Liberal Arts and female undergraduates received their degrees from Jackson College for Women. However, the two colleges have always shared the same faculty, curriculum, and facilities. Jackson College is a college in name only.

The College of Special Studies

This college awards the degree of bachelor of fine arts through a cooperative arrangement with the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. The College of Special Studies also offers a variety of continuing education programs and courses through its Divisions of Graduate and Professional Studies.

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS)

GSAS awards the degrees of master of arts, master of science, master of fine arts, master of arts in teaching, master of public policy, and certificate of advanced graduate study, and doctor of philosophy. Only ten departments in Arts and Sciences have doctoral programs. Several other departments have terminal masters programs. GSAS maintains formal dual degree programs with the School of Engineering, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.

Tufts University Summer Session

The Summer Session offers about 250 undergraduate and graduate courses on the Medford/Somerville campus during two six-week sessions and one twelve-week session each summer. Approximately, 2000 students enroll in Summer Session classes each summer. More than 90% of summer courses are taught by Tufts faculty. In contrast to the other units, the Summer Session awards no degrees. The division has open enrollment and tuition on a per course basis. This enables part-time undergraduate and graduate students, undergraduates at other colleges and universities and adults in the Boston area access to Tufts' faculty, laboratories, library system, and facilities.

The Experimental College (or ExCollege) is also part of the School of Arts and Sciences. This college is not a degree-granting entity. Instead, it serves as a locus for "educational innovation, expansion of the undergraduate curriculum, and faculty/student collaboration within the Arts and Sciences."