The Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology in Boston, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 is one of New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

's oldest colleges of engineering and technologies. The college was established with funds bequethed in Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin

Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...

's will.

History

BFIT owes its existence to the vision of Benjamin Franklin. In an unusual codicil to his will, dated 1789, Franklin established a 200-year plan for a sum totalling £1,000 (about $4,400 at the time, or about $55,000 in 2010 dollars) that he gave to Boston, his birthplace and place of passing. 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

Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...

 and land donated by the City, BFIT opened its doors in 1908. Today, the Institute continues to serve greater Boston and beyond, local industry, and the regional economy by preparing men and women of diverse backgrounds to become proficient in the technical arts.

Academics

The school has 450 day students and offers Certificates, Associate Degree programs and a Bachelor's degree

Bachelor's degree

A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 program.

To provide graduates a pathway for further study, BFIT has entered into articulation agreements with many local colleges, including Northeastern University, Wentworth Institute of Technology

Wentworth Institute of Technology

The Wentworth Institute of Technology is an independent, co-educational, technical design and engineering college located in Boston, Massachusetts...

, and Boston Architectural Center.

Tuition and fees total $13,400 per academic year. Roughly 75% of the student body receives loans, with the average loan amount being $2,300.

Qualified high school students are allowed to take in college-level courses while still in high school.

See also