Tufts University Pre-College Programs Engineering Investigations

Class runs 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, for both weeks, and every day includes a talk from a guest speaker drawn from Tufts faculty, students and industry partners, on topics such as engineering careers, studying engineering and their own research. For roughly the first week and a half, the instructors, teaching assistants and invited guests from the university lead activities in a different field each day, including civil, environmental, mechanical, biomedical, human factors and electrical engineering. Alongside them you get training in fabrication and cover ideas such as the design process, engineering ethics and project management.

The last three days belong to your group project. Working in a small group, you pick an area that interests you and research, design or prototype something, then present it on the final day at a Project Showcase that family and friends can attend. Tufts gives two examples from summer 2022. After a bridge design activity, students built their own bridge with the laser cutter and woodworking tools in the Nolop Makerspace and stress-tested it at the showcase, and after tracking foam airplanes in the motion capture lab, another group designed, built and compared several styles of glider.

Weekends aren't program days. Residential students get staff-run activities such as ice cream socials and trips to Davis Square, and past weekend excursions have included Crane Beach and Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. Commuters check in by 8:45am and leave by 6pm, and nothing is scheduled for them on weekends.

Two Tufts School of Engineering instructors lead the program. Teaching assistants and guests from the university help out, running sessions in their own specialties. Dr. Chelsea Andrews is a Research Assistant Professor at the Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach, where she studies how students engage in engineering design. Before moving into education research, she trained in coastal engineering. Brandon Stafford directs the Nolop Makerspace and studied mechanical engineering at Stanford. He ran his own startup for five years and now teaches hands-on electronics and mechanical design courses at Tufts.

Teaching assistants hold dedicated office hours and work alongside you during project time. Tufts doesn't give a class size or student-to-staff ratio for the program.

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 when it ends.

The application asks for four things: your high school transcript (sent by a school official), one recommendation from a teacher, counselor or mentor, a parent permission form and a statement of interest. Tufts contacts your recommender and parent itself and won't start reviewing until everything is in. Test scores are optional unless English isn't your first language. In that case you need a TOEFL iBT score of 100, IELTS 6.5, PTE 68 or Duolingo 120, or a transcript showing at least a year at an English-medium school. Tufts weighs each application as a whole, doesn't publish an acceptance rate and gives no feedback if it turns you down.

International students are welcome, but Tufts can't sponsor a visa for this program, and a delayed or refused visa doesn't count as a reason for a refund. The Tufts International Center can advise on other visa options.

Summer 2027 costs $5,950 if you live on campus and $4,425 if you commute. The residential fee covers a bed in a double room, three meals a day (brunch and dinner on Sundays), lab materials, activities and excursions, linens and towels, 24-hour residential care and a staff-accompanied airport transfer at set times. Commuters get the full program plus a weekday lunch, but not breakfast or dinner.

On top of the fee, budget for travel to Boston, laundry ($1.50 a cycle), spending money and any medical bills. Every student needs U.S.-based health insurance, and if you don't have it, Tufts enrolls you in a plan for $55.16. You'll also pay for any required vaccine you have to get on campus because your records are missing.

A $550 deposit, due within 10 days of admission, holds your place and counts toward the fee. The balance is due by 15 May 2027. The deposit is never refunded, and Tufts refunds no tuition after 15 May, so that's the date to be sure by. Summer fees can't go on Tufts' payment plan.

Tufts has a limited amount of need-based financial aid, awarded twice a month from February, and says that across its pre-college programs, scholarships typically cover 75% to 100% of the fee. International students aren't eligible. If you can't attend without aid, Tufts suggests waiting to pay the deposit until you hear back, although your session could fill in the meantime.

Residential students have one resident advisor for every ten students, plus a director and senior staff, all trained before the program starts. Halls are split by gender and age, you need a Tufts ID to get in, and each room locks. Curfews apply: you must be in your room by 11pm Sunday to Thursday and by midnight on Friday and Saturday, and breaking curfew can get you sent home without a refund. You have to use the buddy system during free time. You also can't leave campus or go into a lab without a staff member or official parental permission.

Staff take attendance each morning and after lunch. Tufts says it makes reasonable efforts to run background checks on staff who work with students and to give them Title IX (sexual harassment and discrimination) training. The campus has its own 24-hour police department, and Tufts uses on-campus and hospital care for illness or injury. There's no on-site mental health counseling, though. Commuters aren't supervised on the journey or outside program hours. The full rules are on Tufts' policies page.

You apply through Tufts' Pre-College application, which Tufts says most students finish in about 30 to 45 minutes.

1. 1

   Submit the online application from 14 December 2026, choosing residential or commuter and saying whether you want to be considered for financial aid.

2. 2

   Give contact details for a school official, who uploads your transcript, and for a recommender and a parent, whom Tufts emails directly.

3. 3

   If you need aid, complete the financial aid application in your student portal after you submit.

4. 4

   Get every piece in by 1 May 2027. Review starts only once your file is complete, and a decision usually follows within 10 business days.

5. 5

   If you're admitted, pay the $550 deposit within 10 days, counting weekends and holidays.

6. 6

   Pay the balance by 15 May 2027 and complete your enrollment forms by 1 June 2027, then upload health records at least three weeks before your session.