Tufts University Pre-College Programs Business Essentials

Expect full weekdays. The 2026 timetable Tufts published ran from a 9:15am check-in to a 5pm finish, with lunch from 11:30am to 1pm and a team work session at the end of most afternoons. In week one, teams set up a T-shirt business, making shirts on Monday and selling them on Tuesday, then moved on to business models, a bus trip to Wayfair's corporate offices, a sales workshop with a guest speaker and a screening of Air followed by a discussion. Week two covered decision making, going to market, a brand workshop with Catapult, making TikTok-style video ads and the business canvas, before team presentations on Thursday and an awards and closing ceremony on the final Friday morning. The 2027 timetable may differ.

Commuters check in by 8:45am and leave by 6pm, and there's no program on weekends. Residential students eat at the Dewick-MacPhie dining hall, and staff run evening activities such as ice cream socials and visits to Davis Square. Past weekend trips have included Six Flags New England, Crane Beach and the Museum of Fine Arts, although Tufts says trips change from year to year.

The lead instructor is Amir Hasson, an entrepreneur from Tufts' School of Engineering who teaches entrepreneurship at Tufts and mentors founders at MIT and Harvard. Tufts says he has built three companies from startup to exit, including ventures in rural wireless connectivity and mobile payments in India and the U.S., and he now runs Vibe Venture Lab, an AI-for-impact accelerator.

The program is run with the Tufts Gordon Institute. The 2026 timetable also brought in guest speakers on sales, decision making and starting a business, and in week two it had a half-hour slot on four days with current Tufts students teaching.

You can apply if you're entering grades 10 to 12 or graduating from high school in 2027. To live on campus you must be at least 15 when the program starts and no older than 19 before it ends. International students are welcome, but Tufts can't sponsor a visa for this program. If English isn't your first language, you'll need to show proficiency, for example a TOEFL iBT score of 100, IELTS 6.5, PTE 68, Duolingo 120 or at least a year in good standing at an all-English school.

Alongside your transcript and a recommendation, you write two short statements of up to 250 words each, one on why you're interested and one on what you hope to learn. Tufts judges each application as a whole and doesn't publish an acceptance rate, but it says the transcript and recommendation are where applicants stand out most. So pick a teacher, counselor or mentor who can speak in detail about your curiosity and your interest in business. Admission is rolling, and Tufts says programs often fill before the final deadline.

You apply through Tufts' pre-college application portal, which opens for summer 2027 on 14 December 2026.

1. 1

   Create an account and fill in the online application from 14 December 2026, which Tufts says takes about 30 to 45 minutes, and tick the box there if you want to be considered for financial aid.

2. 2

   Give the contact details of an official at your high school, who will be emailed instructions for uploading your transcript.

3. 3

   Tufts then automatically emails your parent or guardian for the permission form and your recommender for the letter, and review only starts once these and your transcript have arrived.

4. 4

   Get everything in by 11:59pm ET on 1 May 2027, and expect a decision by email, usually within 10 business days of your last document arriving.

5. 5

   If you're admitted, pay the $550 deposit within 10 days to hold your seat, then pay the balance by 15 May 2027 and complete the enrollment forms by 1 June 2027.

The two weeks cost $5,750 if you live on campus and $4,225 if you commute. Both prices cover all program activities and materials and the opening and closing events. The residential price also covers your dorm room, three meals a day from Monday to Saturday, Sunday brunch and dinner, and weekend trips. Commuters get lunch on weekdays and pay for any other meals. Travel to Boston isn't included, and neither are incidentals such as souvenirs or laundry ($1.50 a load). Two health charges apply only in some cases: $55.16 for health insurance if you can't show valid U.S. health insurance, and $55 if a required vaccination has to be given on campus. Any medical care is billed separately.

Once you're admitted, you pay a $550 deposit within 10 days. It counts toward the fee but is never refunded, and the balance is due by 15 May 2027, with no payment plan for summer. That date is also the refund cutoff. If you withdraw in writing before it, the tuition may be refunded, but after it nothing comes back, and Tufts doesn't accept a visa delay or refusal as a reason for a refund.

Need-based aid is limited. Tufts says many of its pre-college programs offer a small number of scholarships, usually covering 75% to 100% of the fee. Decisions go out twice a month from February, and if aid decides whether you can attend, Tufts suggests waiting for its answer before paying the deposit, even though the program could fill in the meantime. International students aren't eligible for aid.

Residential students have one resident advisor for every ten students, overseen by a director and senior staff. Rooms are air-conditioned doubles on halls divided by gender and age, and you need a Tufts ID card to get into the building. Curfew means being in your room by 11pm from Sunday to Thursday and by midnight on Friday and Saturday. Students use a buddy system in their free time and can't leave campus without a staff member or official parental permission. On arrival day, Tufts staff meet residential students at Boston Logan Airport, North Station and South Station.

Commuters are supervised only during program hours and aren't allowed in the dorms, so getting to and from campus safely is up to the family. Tufts has its own police department on duty 24 hours a day, and medical problems are handled through on-campus or hospital care, with your emergency contact notified. The full rules are in Tufts' policies.