Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology

Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology is a private nonprofit college of engineering and industrial technologies in Boston, Massachusetts. It was established in 1908 with funds bequeathed in Benjamin Franklin's will.

History

Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology owes its existence to the vision of Benjamin Franklin. In a codicil to his will, dated 1789, Franklin established a 200-year plan for a sum totaling £1,000 (about $4,400 at the time, or about $112,000 in 2010 dollars) that he gave to the city of Boston, where he was born. For the first hundred years, the money was to serve as principal for loans to young workmen; at the end of that period, the fund's managers would divide the money, using approximately three-fourths for public works and maintaining the rest as a loan fund.

When the hundred-year interval had passed, Boston decided to use the money to establish a technical school. Aided by an additional gift from industrialist Andrew Carnegie and land donated by the city, the institute opened its doors in 1908. A series of murals on campus were painted by Charles Mills.

In 2019, the institute announced plans to sell its three-building 1908 campus and look for a 30% larger facility. In September 2019, the institute announced a move to a new campus located on seven-tenths of an acre in the Dudley Square section of Roxbury (now renamed Nubian Square) to be closer to the neighborhoods where many of its students lived. The new building is expected to open in the autumn of 2024.

In September 2020, the ''Boston Globe'' leaked that the institute was planning for a possible merger with the Wentworth Institute of Technology. The merger deal faced opposition among community members and city officials based on how the merger would affect Benjamin Franklin's ability to continue to serve low-income minority students, as well as the secretive nature of the merger negotiations themselves. In November 2020, the college's board of trustees voted to keep Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology independent and to discontinue any merger talks, according to a report in the ''Globe''.

In February 2022, the college announced it received a transformative $12.5 million gift from the Cummings Foundation to advance its leading-edge work in creating technical career pathways for students typically underrepresented in post-secondary education. In recognition of the transformational nature of the commitment—nearly equivalent to the school’s annual operating budget—the college was renamed Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology. This multi-year pledge reflected Bill and Joyce Cummings’ interest in expanding the reach of Cummings Foundation to include organizations that feature innovative and dynamic approaches to workforce development and create greater opportunities for communities that have historically lacked access to higher education and the career pathways it provides.

Academics

, the school serves approximately 870 students (61% in traditional programs and 39% through strategic partnerships and continuing education programs), with a 9 :1 student-to-faculty ratio, and offered programs of study awarding certificates, associate degrees, and bachelor's degrees.

The college received a 10-year re-accreditation in March 2021 from the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), formerly the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

References

External links

Official website

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Universities and colleges in Boston
Educational institutions established in 1908
1908 establishments in Massachusetts
NJCAA athletics
Private universities and colleges in Massachusetts
Technological universities in the United States