 13 June 1580, and was elected fellow of his college 30 May 1583, but a severe remark about the practical jokes which the founder of Trinity, Sir Thomas Pope, was fond of playing on his friends, led to his expulsion from the college.In 1586, Sir Henry Savile offered him a tutorship at Merton, and there Cuffe pursued his Greek studies with conspicuous success.On 20 Feb 1588/9 he graduated M.A., and after proving his capacity as a teacher of Greek by holding a lectureship at Queen's College, he was in 1590 elected Regius Professor of Greek in the university.