Acquiring a global outlook—including an understanding of languages, cultures, and world politics—is also part of the Simmons experience. From undergraduate programs such as Africana or East Asian studies, to graduate fieldwork with Boston’s diverse immigrant communities, Simmons encourages students to move beyond familiar borders and connect with the world. To this end, Simmons encourages cross-cultural understanding and collaboration through on-campus colloquia and conferences; international scholarship; and outreach programs in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Current initiatives include scholarships for Afghan women, community-health projects in Nicaragua, and library preservation in war-torn Iraq. Intensive study-abroad courses range from journalism in South Africa, to music in Austria, to history and culture in Japan. Students are also encouraged to spend an entire semester or year abroad, with scholarships and grants available for research and independent study.
Special academic opportunities include an honors program; Studio 5, a student-run, creative communications studio that produces projects for Boston-area nonprofits; and the Barbara Lee Family Foundation Intern Fellowship, which pairs undergraduate seniors with state legislators. In addition, an alumni mentoring program allows students to gain professional experience and support. Through Success Connection, select undergraduate seniors shadow high-profile alumni in their places of work.
GREAT TEACHING
Simmons faculty are experts in their fields and caring teachers and mentors. Our classes and labs are led by faculty, not by teaching assistants…
Intensive Professional Preparation
With a student-to-faculty ratio of 13:1, Simmons professors are able to spend quality time with individual students. Professors, not teaching assistants, lead all the classes and labs. They know your name, and if you’re absent, they might just call you.
Simmons’s distinguished faculty include noted researchers, authors, and experts in their respective fields. All are passionate educators, who take pride in personally teaching and mentoring their students. Students say that professors care about them, expect excellence, and go out of their way to offer guidance and support.
Simmons offers majors and programs in many fields of study such as biology, communications, education, economics, management, modern languages, nursing, nutrition, physical therapy, psychology, and women’s studies. In addition to the more traditional courses of study, Simmons also offers unique interdisciplinary majors such as arts administration, East Asian studies, physics of materials, and information technology.
Simmons College is a member of the Colleges of the Fenway Consortium. Through the Consortium, students may take courses and attend social and cultural events at neighboring institutions, such as Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and Massachusetts College of Art.
Academic Programs Africana studies, art, art & music, arts administration, biochemistry, biology, biostatistics, business and management, chemistry, chemistry-management, communications:, computer, science, East Asian studies, economics, economics and mathematics, education, English, environmental science, exercise science, finance, financial mathematics, French, health, informatics, history, information technology, international relations, marketing, mathematics, music, nursing, nutrition and dietetics, nutrition and food science, pharmacy (dual degree in chemistry & pharmacy), philosophy, physical therapy, physics, political science, psychobiology psychology, public health, retail management, sociology, Spanish, women’s and gender studies Simmons offers a number of 5-year programs, leading to a master’s degree in education, gender/cultural studies, nursing, and others, and a 6-year program leading to a clinical doctoral degree in physical therapy.
VIBRANT COMMUNITIES
Greater Boston, where Simmons is located, attracts more than 250,000 college students each year and offers all the excitement and activity of an educational Mecca: more than a dozen other colleges within walking distance, professional baseball, football, and hockey teams, world-renowned museums right next door, and films, plays, concerts, and other live performances…
Enlivened by different views, life experiences, and good times
The college’s small but strong community attracts students and teachers who contribute to the school’s life and meaning. The historic, tree-lined Simmons campus is located in Boston’s eclectic Fenway neighborhood, which is alive with music, fine arts, research, education, activism, and the rowdy cheers of baseball fans at legendary Fenway Park. Numerous colleges, cafes, museums, parks, shops, and the Longwood Medical Area are all nearby.
Simmons has more than fifty student organizations, academic liaisons, and other activities, including student government, nine NCAA Division III athletic teams, cultural organizations, and volunteer projects. Campus traditions such as the Simmons Cup field day and “moonlight breakfasts” during finals week ensure a proud legacy of Simmons sisterhood. As members of the Colleges of the Fenway consortium, Simmons students attend social and cultural events with more than nine thousand undergraduates from five neighboring colleges.
SUCCESSFUL OUTCOMES
Simmons students succeed. We have a network of outstanding graduates who are excelling in important fields – from education and health care to film and music, business and politics…
Empowered to make a difference in the world
Located in Boston, one of the world’s great “career capitals,” Simmons offers numerous inroads to the city’s health care, finance, education, technology, social work, communications, and research communities. Students stay connected to the world outside Simmons’s walls through faculty connections and a wide variety of internships and fieldwork opportunities that yield outstanding networking and career prospects. And Simmons graduates throughout Boston and across the globe, many of whom have ascended to key leadership positions in their respective fields, remain dedicated to their alma mater and fellow alums.
Simmons alumni have gone on to success in many fields. Some of the most well-known include Marie Celestin ’00, ’02 GS, founder and director of the G.I.R.L.S. project; Carolyn Noyes ’86, managing editor of Ladies Home Journal; Suzanne Yalof-Schwartz ’89, executive fashion director for Glamour Magazine; jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon ’79, two-time Grammy nominee who performed at the 2001 Grammy Awards; Denise Di Novi ‘77, president of Di Novi Pictures, producer of such films as Little Women, Heathers, Batman Returns, Edward Scissorhands, and James and the Giant Peach; Gwen Ifill ‘77, moderator and managing editor of the PBS television program Washington Week in Review; and Lisa Mullins ‘80, anchor and senior producer of The World, a BBC and Public Radio International program.
The annual “Success Connection” program allows exceptional seniors to visit some of the most dynamic work environments in the country. A group of Simmons alumnae from a wide variety of professions give Simmons seniors an up-close perspective on the daily demands faced by professional women in prestigious organizations.
The Career Education Center, which offers mentoring opportunities, internship placements, recruitment opportunities, and career development workshops, provides a distinct advantage to Simmons students because it is integrated with the Simmons Career Resource Library. The comprehensive services provided help Simmons students to find success in their professional and academic endeavors both before and after graduation.
FAST FACTS
Simmons College is a private college with more than forty undergraduate majors and programs