Notre Dame vs Tufts for economics: which is better for an undergrad economics major?

The biggest practical tradeoff is scale and style: Notre Dame gives you a larger, more traditional university experience with a very established undergraduate business ecosystem, while Tufts offers a smaller, more intimate academic setting with especially strong access to Boston-area policy, research, and internship opportunities. For economics specifically, both schools take the major seriously, but they sit in slightly different ecosystems. Notre Dame benefits from the presence of the Mendoza College of Business and a powerful alumni network, while Tufts stands out for close faculty access, cross-disciplinary work, and location near a major job market.

For pure undergraduate economics, Tufts often gets a bit more attention as a place where economics is central to the liberal arts and social sciences culture. Students interested in research, policy, international economics, or eventually pursuing a PhD often find Tufts especially appealing because the department is well integrated with international relations, political science, and quantitative work. Being near Boston also makes semester-time internships more realistic than they are in South Bend.

Notre Dame is very strong too, especially if your version of economics leans toward finance, consulting, business analytics, or corporate recruiting. The economics department itself is respected, and the broader Notre Dame brand carries a lot of weight with employers. The alumni network is one of the school’s biggest assets, and undergraduate-focused opportunities are a real strength there.

If your priority is a tighter academic environment for economics itself, with easy access to urban internships and policy-oriented pathways, Tufts has the edge. If you want economics in a campus setting that also opens a lot of doors into business-oriented careers through a larger alumni and recruiting network, Notre Dame is hard to ignore. Between the two, I’d give Tufts a slight advantage for undergraduate economics as an academic major, and Notre Dame a slight advantage for economics tied to business careers.