Since the conversation has turned to comparing the size of the campuses, I just want to point out that there are some factors to take into consideration.
-
Wesleyan - About 20 years ago, Wesleyan purchased a property adjacent to the campus, which doubled the size of the campus. It was formerly a juvenile detention center. Very little of the property has been developed for student use and for all practical purposes, the campus that the students operate on is the same as it was previously, which is about the same size as the Tufts campus.
-
The Tufts campus is actually quite large for a college in a major metropolitan area. Tufts was a small liberal arts college until it began to transform into a major research university in the 1970s. By that time the campus footprint in Somerville was pretty well set. It should be noted that the Medical School and College of Pharmacy are not housed on the Somerville campus but at a separate complex in downtown Boston. Likewise the Art School is not in Somerville but also in Boston along the Fenway and near the Museum of Fine Arts. Student residence facilities are here as well.
-
Vassar - I have visited Vassar and have walked around the campus. It certainly doesn’t feel like 1000 acres. The college was founded on 200 acres and that’s still the heart of the modern campus which functions on land about twice that amount. Although Vassar owns more than 1000 acres, much of it is set aside for open space, such as the Vassar Farm and Ecological Center. Would any group of 2300 college students really want to wander around on 1000 acres to get to & from class, dorms, dining halls, etc?
Much of the land owned by these colleges is a function of their locations and what land was or was not available as they grew.