Tufts University is a famous university in the United States, second only to Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the Boston area, ranking among the top five universities in Boston (Harvard University, MIT, Tufts University, Boston College, Brandeis University), and one of the 25 new Ivy League members.

Tufts University is home to one of the oldest and most prestigious graduate schools in international relations in the United States: the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Its famous biomedical research center, Tufts Medical Center, is the main teaching hospital of Tufts University School of Medicine. The Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, which is also famous in nutrition, is one of the benchmarks of the academic community.

The school's acceptance rate of less than 15% ranks 17th among comprehensive universities in the United States. It is on par with Williams College, the No. 1 liberal arts college in the United States, making it one of the most difficult universities in the United States to admit. Among Tufts University alumni, the number of CEOs of the Fortune 100 ranks second in the United States (tied with the University of Pennsylvania and Dartmouth College).