Simmons University (previously Simmons College) is a
private university in
Boston,
Massachusetts. It was established in 1899 by clothing manufacturer
John Simmons. In 2018, it reorganized its structure and changed its name to a university. Its undergraduate program is
women-focused while its graduate programs are
co-educational.
Simmons is
accredited by the
New England Commission of Higher Education.[2] As of 2020, 83percent of applicants to undergraduate programs were accepted.[3] The university is divided into two campuses in the
Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood totaling 12 acres (4.9 ha), one of which has five academic buildings and the other of which has nine
Georgian-style residential buildings.[4]
The university enrolls approximately 1,736 undergraduates and 4,527 graduate students.[5] Its athletics teams compete in
NCAA Division III as the Sharks.
History
Simmons was founded in 1899 with a bequest by
John Simmons, a wealthy clothing manufacturer in Boston. Simmons founded the college, called Simmons College, based on the belief that women ought to live independently by offering a
liberal arts education for undergraduate women to integrate into professional work experience.[6]Sarah Louise Arnold was the school's first
dean[7] (she also later served as national president of the
Girl Scouts).[8]
Simmons graduated its first
African American student in 1914. Furthermore, Simmons was one of the few private colleges not to impose admission quotas on
Jewish students for the first half of the 1900s.[6]
The school's MBA program was the first in the world designed specifically for women.[10] Today, the undergraduate program is women-centered, while the graduate schools are
coed.[11]
In 2014, Simmons College teamed up with for-profit online program manager
2U, a deal that would generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues for the school.[12]
In November 2014, the institution released an explicit policy on the acceptance of
transgender students, claiming a strong tradition of empowering women and challenging traditional gender roles and a "rich history of inclusion." Its undergraduate program accepts applicants who are assigned female at birth as well as those who self-identify as women, making Simmons the third women-centered college in the
United States to accept transgender women.[13] Government documentation of gender is not required. (Graduate programs are co-educational, so gender identity is not of concern.)[14]
In 2016, the MBA program went online as MBA@Simmons, and began admitting men.[15]
In 2018, Simmons College changed its name to Simmons University after reorganizing the structure of the school.[16]
Campus
Simmons University is currently divided into two campuses located in the
Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. One campus is home to five academic buildings referred to as the Academic Campus. The other campus, referred to as the Residential Campus, is home to nine residential buildings for undergraduate students. The original site of the Simmons College Graduate School of Social Work is featured on the
Boston Women's Heritage Trail.[17]
In November 2020, a plan for a single campus was launched by the university called One Simmons. This plan aims to combine the two campuses into a single campus and create a 21-story "Living and Learning Center." This will include 1,100 dorm rooms, classrooms, and athletic facilities. Additionally, the plan outlines renovations to the Main College Building and Lefavour Hall. Lefavour Hall specifically will be outfitted with a new library and a new state of the art science center. Following the completion of these renovations in spring of 2022, the Park Science Center has been closed. It is going to be taken down to build the new Living and Learning Center. The project is scheduled to break ground in Fall 2022 and open in 2025.[18]
In order to achieve such an endeavor, Simmons University entered into an agreement with
Skanska, a multinational construction and property development company. This partnership has two stated goals. First, Skanska will build the new Living and Learning Center building, and in exchange, Simmons University will give Skanska a 99-year lease for the grounds of the residential campus.[18] Secondly, Skanska will plan and execute commercial development of the former residential campus after the construction of the Living and Learning Center is completed.[19]
Beatley Library/Lefavour Hall (recently renovated to also house the science facilities[18])
Park Science Center (currently inaccessible due to impending demolition[18])
School of Management Building (a recent green construction[20])
Student body
According to the College Scorecard, the racial and ethnic composition of the undergraduate population is 62 percent white, 11 percent Asian, 8 percent Hispanic, 6 percent black, and 5 percent non-resident alien. Thirty percent of the undergraduate student body is Pell Grant eligible (meant for low-income students).[21]
Admissions
Simmons does not require, but considers,
SAT and
ACT scores for admission. In 2023, accepted students had a
GPA of 3.81 and, for those submitting, had an SAT score between 1190–1350 with an average of 1279, or an ACT score between 28–32 with an average of 30.[22][23]
Simmons considers applicants holistically and considers accomplishments as well leadership and co-curricular activities.[24]
Simmons University reorganized its academic structure in 2018 to foster interdisciplinary learning and cross-departmental collaboration among its constituent colleges:
College of Natural, Behavioral, and Health Sciences
School of Nursing
College of Organizational, Computational, and Information Sciences
School of Library and Information Science (SLIS), est. 1902[27][28]
School of Business
College of Social Sciences, Policy, and Practice
School of Social Work
The Gwen Ifill College of Media, Arts, and Humanities
^"Pre-NCAA women's collegiate tennis". Tennis Forum. Retrieved May 25, 2021 – via Newspapers.com. (Boston Globe, 1929-1953. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1954-1963.)
^"College Corner", The Item of Millburn and Short Hills, September 1, 1966. Accessed May 6, 2021, via
Newspapers.com. "Three Millburn High School alumnae have been named to the dean's list of scholars at Simmons College in Boston for the year..... Sondra A. Perl, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Herman Perl of South Orange Avenue, will be a sophomore in the department of education."