Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology


Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology is a private 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 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 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, BFIT 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 3-building 1908 campus and look for a 30% larger facility. In September 2019, the Institute announced they will be moving to a new campus located on seven-tenths of an acre in the Dudley Square section of Roxbury to be closer to the neighborhoods where current students live. The new building is expected to open in the autumn of 2021.

Academics

, the school has approximately 525 students, with a 13:1 student-to-faculty ratio, and offers 17 programs of study awarding certificates, associate degrees, and bachelor's degrees.
Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology is the only college in Massachusetts to offer Associate of Science degrees in Electrical Technology, Opticianry, Biomedical Engineering Technology, and Bachelor of Science degrees in Automotive Management and Health Information Technology. Starting in 2018, the College also began offering a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering. The college's graduation rate is twice the national average.
The college is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.