IMHO, three things are holding back Tufts: a relatively small endowment, graduate programs that are weaker than the undergraduate school and the small size of the school relative to bigger research universities. I think it’s difficult to compare the school to many of the other schools in its compare group. Caltech has a similar challenge. All this being said, the future looks bright for Tufts! The faculty and staff are world class and the students are clearly at a peer level with students from schools ranked higher.