Simmons University
About Simmons University






Located in the heart of Boston, Simmons College is a four-year, private, non-profit school. Its undergraduate college is a women’s school, but Simmons College Graduate School Online offers programs across disciplines, from nursing to social work to business, to both men and women.
The Simmons College student body is quite diverse, with approximately 24 percent of students being self-reported African American, Latina, Asian, Native American, and multi-racial; and three percent of students coming from 53 countries.i
Simmons College has 215 full-time faculty members, 70 percent of whom are women. The student to teacher ratio at Simmons College is 10:1 with an average class size of 18. The school offers on-campus, online, and hybrid courses to traditional and non-traditional students.i
Simmons College Graduate Programs Online and On Campus
Simmons College offers more than fifty graduate programs in online, on-campus, and hybrid formats, with on-campus options for evening study. Twelve of its programs offer dual degrees in areas such as history, teaching, social work, and nursing.ii
5 Schools in 1
Simmons College offers its programs through the following schools:iii
- The Simmons College School of Social Work (within which you can find the much-sought Simmons College MSW program)
- The Simmons College of Arts and Sciences
- The Simmons School of Library and Information Science
- The Simmons School of Management (home of the Simmons College MBA)
- The Simmons School of Nursing and Health Sciences
Degrees Awarded
During the 2015-2016 school year, Simmons College awarded 475 bachelor’s degrees, 1,171 master’s degrees, and 80 doctorate degrees. As you can see, the school’s more widely attended by graduate students, especially those earning master’s degrees.iv
Typical Areas of Study
For the students earning master’s degrees that year, the following majors were the most common:
- Family practice nursing (260 degrees conferred) (offered primarily online)
- Social work (204 degrees conferred) (offered online)
- Library and information science (143 degrees conferred) (offered online)
- Archival administration (117 degrees conferred)
- Special education and teaching (107 degrees conferred)
- Business administration and management (67 degrees conferred) (offered online)
- Applied behavior analysis (offered through the psychology department) (61 degrees conferred) (offered online)
- General education (37 degrees conferred)
Otherwise, students earning master’s degrees that year did so in other areas of education, cultural and group studies, communication and journalism, English language and literature, family and consumer sciences, health, history, public administration, and library science.
Students who earned doctorate degrees that year did so in physical therapy (67 degrees conferred), applied behavior analysis (4 degrees conferred), nursing practice (3 degrees conferred), information studies (2 degrees conferred), social work (2 degrees conferred), health occupations/teacher education (1 degree conferred), and library and information sciences (1 degree conferred).
Simmons College also offers postgraduate certificates and conferred 55 of them that school year. The majority of students earned postgraduate certificates in areas of health family and consumer sciences, and library sciences.
Simmons College Online
Simmons Online offers four graduate programs entirely online: one in Behavior Analysis, a Health Care Master of Business Administration, a Master of Business Administration, and a Master of Public Health. Simmons College nursing programs and other majors are also offered in hybrid formats, with the majority of courses offered online.v
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Simmons College Admissions
Admission to Simmons College’s graduate programs varies by program. However, there is a general set of requirements for applying to graduate programs at the school. Graduate applicants typically must:
- Complete an online or paper application
- Submit a resume
- Write a statement of purpose or letter of intent
- Submit an analytical writing sample (particularly for entrance into doctorate programs)
- Submit letters of recommendation
- Submit official transcripts for each institution previously attended
- Submit TOEFL scores if English is a foreign language for the applicant
- Pay a non-refundable application fee (typically of $35)
Note that for some programs, you might need to meet additional admissions requirements, including submitting a GRE score.
Enrollment, Attendance, Retention Rates and Graduation
Graduate attendance rate of 66% part-time and 34% full-time
For the years 2018-2019 Simmons University awarded: 487 bachelor's degrees, 1704 master's degrees, 47 post-master's certificates, 32 doctor's degrees - professional practice, 16 doctor's degrees - research/scholarship
Financial Aid
Simmons College Tuition
Tuition for graduate students varies by program at Simmons College. In early 2018, these were the tuition rates for Simmons College’s most popular graduate programs:vi
- The Doctor of Nursing Practice, the Direct Entry M.S.N., and the RN to M.S.N. cost students $1,345 per credit hour plus $110 per semester for an activity fee.
- The Master of Social Work and the Ph.D. in Social Work cost students $1,030 per credit hour plus $55 per semester for an activity fee and $55 per field placement.
- The M.S. and Ph.D. in Library and Information Science cost students $1,230 per credit hour plus $55 per semester for an activity fee. This price extended to M.S. degrees with emphases in archives, children’s literature, cultural heritage, information science and technology, and library teacher.
- The M.S. in Information Science Archives/History (M.A.) cost students $1,220 per credit hour plus $55 per semester for an activity fee.
- The Master of Arts in Teaching, Dual General and Special Education Licensure cost students $920 per credit hour plus $55 per semester for an activity fee.
- The Master of Business Administration cost students $1,400 per credit hour plus $160 per term for an activity fee.
- The M.S. and Ed.S. in Applied Behavior Analysis cost students $1,025 per credit hour plus $55 per semester for an activity fee.
- The Doctorate of Physical Therapy cost students $1,240 per semester plus $110 per semester for an activity fee and a one-time fee of $790 for a human anatomy laboratory.
The majority of graduate programs at Simmons College require students to complete 30 to 70 credit hours to graduate. Simmons College specifies that the cost of tuition could go up each academic year. The prices above do not include the costs of books and other materials.vi
Simmons College Financial Aid
Graduate students at Simmons College can apply for grants, scholarships, and loans from the government, private funders, and other organizations. The school accepts veteran’s benefits and may provide opportunities for work-study. Simmons College offers financial literacy counseling to all students.vii
Simmons College Accreditation
Simmons College in Boston has institutional accreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Commission on Institutions of Higher Education. The school has additional specialized accreditation from the following agencies:iv
- The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics
- The American Physical Therapy Association, Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education
- The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (note that this accreditation is for nursing programs at the baccalaureate, master’s, and doctorate degree levels)
Campus Locations
- Simmons University: Boston, MA300 The Fenway, Boston, MA, 02115
- Simmons University: Online