Simmons University (Boston, Mass.)

Rooted in Tradition, Thriving on Change
Decades before women in America gained the right to vote, Boston businessman John Simmons had a revolutionary idea — that women should be able to earn independent livelihoods and lead meaningful lives. It was this same spirit of inclusion and empowerment that produced the first African-American Simmons graduate in 1914, and made Simmons one of the only private colleges that did not impose admission quotas on Jewish students during the first half of the 1900s.

Since 1899, Simmons has offered a pioneering liberal arts education for undergraduate women integrated with professional work experience. Today, Simmons also encompasses the many benefits of a small university, including renowned coeducational graduate programs in health sciences, education, liberal arts, library and information science, management, and social work.

For more than 100 years, a Simmons education has integrated professional preparation, intellectual exploration, and community orientation, because all three approaches are necessary for success. At Simmons, we value the many dimensions of identity — including race, class, ethnicity, and sexual identity — and reflect that in our curriculum, affiliated organizations, and community partnerships.

Simmons consistently ranks among the nation’s top schools in its category in U.S.News & World Report, the Princeton Review and Forbes. That's no surprise. Simmons educates people who share a passion for learning, a commitment to community, and the determination to make a difference.

Our Founder, John Simmons
Headshot of John Simmons
John Simmons, 1796—1870, left his boyhood home in Little Compton, Rhode Island, in 1814 to become a tailor in Boston. In 1818, he opened a clothing store and by 1844 was the owner of the largest wholesale clothing business in New England, having revolutionized the menswear industry by offering ready-made suits in standard sizes.

With the proceeds of his successful clothing business, Simmons was able to make large investments in prime Boston real estate. When he died in 1870, his will provided for his surviving family—two daughters and two granddaughters—as well as for the founding of an educational institution:

"It is my will to found and endow an institution to be called Simmons Female College, for the purpose of teaching medicine, music, drawing, designing, telegraphy, and other branches of art, science, and industry best calculated to enable the scholars to acquire an independent livelihood."

The founding of a college that would reflect Simmons's innovative vision was delayed due to the destruction of most of his properties in the Great Boston Fire of 1872. Rebuilding took many years; it was not until 1899 that sufficient funding was available to establish the college that Simmons had envisioned. On May 24, 1899, the Massachusetts legislature granted the charter to incorporate Simmons Female College, and the newly selected Corporation members began meeting to transform the broad outline of John Simmons's will into reality.

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.[3] As of 2020, 83 percent of applicants to undergraduate programs were accepted.[4] 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.[5]

The university enrolls approximately 1,736 undergraduates and 4,527 graduate students.[6] Its athletics teams compete in NCAA Division III as the Sharks.