Wanting to bring more students to live on campus, the university is expanding existing residences and creating new ones
Tufts will be adding new housing like this CoHo residence for undergraduates. Photo: Alonso Nichols
Tufts guarantees housing for all first- and second-year students, a commitment that was put to the test last fall, when more students enrolled than expected for the Class of 2025. Some 100 students were housed at the Hyatt Place in Medford during the 2021-2022 academic year.
To help, Tufts is continuing to create additional housing, allowing more students to live on campus.
In the last five years, the university added 485 beds to the Medford/Somerville campus through renovations and optimization programs—triple the number added through construction of Sophia Gordon Hall, its most recent new residence. Updates to many existing residence halls, including Bush, Houston, Miller, and Tilton, provided upgrades like community kitchens while adding housing for first- and second-year students.
The university also renovated and converted 13 wood-frame houses alongside campus in Medford into fully furnished apartment-style residences. CoHo (short for Community Housing) brought 139 juniors and seniors back to campus, quickly becoming a coveted alternative to off-campus rentals.
Summer construction this year will produce the Court at Professors Row, new temporary housing for 150 first-year students at 91, 93, and 95 Professors Row. The new residential complex will consist of three separate buildings, each housing 50 students and three resident assistants. Each will include a kitchen, common area, shared study space, numerous bathrooms, and a laundry room.
A virtual walkthrough of the Court at Professors Row, Tufts’ new on-campus housing for first-year students (video by: Windover Construction)
Expanding on CoHo’s success at bringing juniors and seniors back to campus, Tufts is also planning to build two new CoHo houses in the Medford Hillside. These structures will be energy-efficient and accessible while preserving the architectural character of the neighborhood. Like all on-campus students, CoHo residents will park on campus. And as with the existing CoHo houses, Tufts will own, maintain, and secure the properties.
Combined with ongoing renovation to housing located at 114 Professors Row, as well as planned construction for a new residence hall on Boston Avenue in Medford, the university anticipates bringing hundreds of additional juniors and seniors back into campus housing over the next several years.
