Why Simmons
Simmons University provides the best of many worlds: a close-knit college, a bustling, big-city university and online programs that fit into your life.
Purpose Meets Passion
Simmons students, faculty, staff and alumnae/i have never been afraid to lead. Leading by using education to advance social and economic equity is in our DNA.
Every day, each of our students cultivates the competence, confidence, and courage to lead in critical areas such as the health and library sciences, management, communications, and other STEM fields. Because when you're out in front, you realize just how limitless your opportunities are.
Simmons has been recognized with the 2024 Carnegie Elective Classification for Leadership for Public Purpose
This designation recognizes our institutional commitment to the pursuit of leadership and the collective public good.
Discover Your Simmons
Whether you are an undergraduate seeking a bachelor's degree or a graduate student looking to advance or change your career, we are committed to providing you with the leadership and skills you need to not only arrive, but thrive in your life's work.
What you bring to Simmons — your interests, your experiences, your voice, your perspective — is what drives our collective progress. And no matter where you are with your own journey, we’ll meet you there.
Simmons for Undergraduate Students
Here you’ll experience our innovative curriculum, which allows you to customize your course of study while you earn your Bachelor's degree. Whether you’re undecided about your major or have already identified your dream career, you’ll find your passion and develop your unique leadership style.
Undergraduate Student Life
You’ll study and live in our small college environment while enjoying all the resources of a major academic hub. You’ll also have easy access to internship possibilities throughout the city (and beyond)!
Simmons for Graduate Students
Our innovative, co-educational graduate programs allow you to customize your courses of study. You’ll learn through small classes, case-based discussions, experiential learning, research opportunities and seminars.
Our Commitment to Inclusivity
We are committed to embracing students from all backgrounds and all forms of human uniqueness. Our undergraduate community welcomes all marginalized genders, including students who live and identify as women or who do not fit into the gender binary, but feel they belong in our women-centered community.
Our Faculty
Studying at Simmons means you'll work closely with dedicated faculty who are leaders in their fields and mentors in the classroom. They'll support and guide you through your academic journey and beyond, and you'll find there are ample opportunities not only to talk with them and learn from their expertise but also to tackle problems, projects, and research right alongside them.
Our Alumnae/i
Simmons alumnae/i consistently make their mark on the world by challenging the status quo, breaking down barriers, and helping to create a more just world.
Our Campus
As the University changes to meet the evolving needs of our students, we are ensuring that our physical space also meets those needs.
Our Location
We're right in the heart of Boston, and the city plays a significant role in many of Simmons’ academic and professional offerings. Simmons draws on many of the city’s cultural, historical, economic, scientific, and educational resources to offer an unparalleled student experience.
What will your Simmons story be?
Six Students Selected for the 2025 Senior Scholar Award
Ginjer Doherty ’25, Aviva Foster ’25, CJ Haggard ’25, Theo Hatfield ’25, Lili Malatinszky ’25, and Grace Walters ’25 have been selected for the prestigious Senior Scholar Award at Simmons University. Sponsored by the Provost’s Office and the Office of Research and Fellowships, the Senior Scholar Award recognizes outstanding scholarly research across different disciplinary fields.
Thriving as Future STEM Leaders and Innovators
Gina Gawargi ’27, Fuma Iwakura ’26, and MJ Vasquez ’27 are part of the Dynamic Research Education Academy for Mentoring (DREAM) program, which currently has about 60 student participants. The NASA-funded initiative helps increase the retention of Simmons students in STEM fields.
The Simmons Edge Accelerates Academic and Career Success
Accelerated graduate education is a key feature that drew Kayla Pringle ’26 to Simmons. With the launch of the Simmons Edge, all undergraduate students will have the opportunity to graduate with an advanced degree in a wide selection of fields in as few as four or five years.
Building a Family History at Simmons
Nearly a century ago, Anna T. Kenney attended Simmons College, majoring in Secretarial Studies. Now, Kenney’s great-granddaughter, Annie Doherty ’26, has followed in her great-grandmother's footsteps to Simmons.
Simmons Student-athletes Excel On and Off the Field
Early mornings and late evenings. Long practices and rigorous academic courses. Team bonding and unforgettable moments. These are just a few of the hallmarks of the student-athlete experience at Simmons, according to field hockey player Sydney Gonyea ’25 and softball pitcher Piper Kinney ’26.
Incoming Student from Camden Achieves Her Dream
Sasha Oglesby, a participant in Women of the Dream, Inc. (WOD), was accepted into Simmons University as a member of the Class of 2029.
Social Work Student Destigmatizes Homelessness in New Book
Social Work major Maggie Spadaro ’25 recently published a children’s book that fosters awareness and empathy regarding individuals experiencing homelessness. We spoke with her about this unique project, Simmons’ vital community, and her social justice-related aspirations.
Incoming Student-Athlete Featured in The Herald News
The Herald News (Fall River, MA) recently featured Westport High School senior and incoming student Tess Silvia, who will play soccer and softball for Simmons.
Simmons Alums in the News
Cambridge Director of Libraries Fosters Learning and Community
Maria McCauley ’17PhD says some of her fondest childhood memories are of visiting her local public library. This lifelong passion for knowledge is part of the reason she decided to pursue library and information science as a second career.
Thriving in Simmons’ Online Degree Completion Program
A flexible and student-centered environment were two reasons why Libby Lassiter ’24 chose Simmons’ online degree completion program, which helps adult learners achieve their goal of graduating from college. “It was a great experience,” Lassiter says. “If I had my...
Integrating Forest Spirituality into a Social Work Mindset
Grant Pike ’18MSW ’24DSW shares how the vitality of nature can be combined with social work and social justice, with a positive impact on humans and the planet.
An Advocate for Women and Children
Esta Soler ’68, ’06HD is the President of Futures Without Violence (FUTURES). Based in San Francisco, Boston, and Washington D.C., this nonprofit organization aims to prevent violence against women and families.
Gregory Maguire ’78MA Defying Gravity
Gregory Maguire '78MA, best-selling author of Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, reflects on his time as one of the first graduates of the Master of Arts in Children’s Literature program at Simmons, now celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Harbinger of Health, Racial, and Gender Equity
An early proponent of reproductive rights and a courageous advocate of racial, socioeconomic, and gender equity decades before the Civil Rights and Women’s Movements, Dr. Dorothy Celeste Boulding Ferebee, Class of 1920, was a visionary leader ahead of her time.
Lived Experience: An Engine of Advocacy
A motivated advocate for social justice, Rayna Hill ’22MA/MPP is creating an equitable future for LGBTQ+ youth in the state of Massachusetts.
Realizing Reparative Justice
In honor of the University’s 125th anniversary, we examine Barbara (Schneider) Margolis ’51 and her resolute commitment to rehabilitating incarcerated individuals. Barbara Margolis ’51, who majored in retail management (then retailing) at Simmons, became one of the nation’s most beloved prisoners’ rights advocates. Margolis developed rehabilitation and career-transition programs for male inmates at Rikers Island, the world’s largest penal complex (situated within the Bronx and accessible via a girder bridge in Queens).
Our Mission and History
For over 120 years, Simmons has put the needs of our students first. Through an education that combines intellectual leadership with professional preparation, we help students lead meaningful lives and build successful careers for the 21st century.
Our Leadership Team
Accessible and accountable, our administration leads by example. And we hold firm to one purpose: to work for you.