Boston College, or B.C. for short, is a major post-secondary educational institution located partly in Newton and partly in Boston, Massachusetts. Despite its name, Boston College is actually a fully accredited university, not simply a college; this is probably to avoid confusion with another Boston institution, Boston University. Boston College is known for its programs in law and the arts & sciences. As of 2002 the college had a faculty of 461 and an enrollment of about 13,500 (4,600 of whom are graduate students).
It was originally founded in Boston in 1863 as a Jesuit institution. Boston College is one of the oldest Roman Catholic institutions of higher education in the United States, one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. Although always a university, Boston College did not really begin to markedly grow until the 1920s.
Bachelors, master's, and doctoral programs are offered through the Woods College of Advancing Studies, the College of Arts & Sciences, the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, the Lynch School of Education, the Carroll School of Management, the Connell School of Nursing, the Graduate School of Social Work, and the Boston College Law School.
The Boston College campus is located six miles west of downtown Boston on Chestnut Hill. The campus is roughly bordered by Commonwealth Avenue on the north and Beacon Street near the south end of campus. The school's sports teams are called the Eagles. They participate in the NCAA's Division I-A and in the Big East Conference. In 2005, BC will leave the Big East and join the Atlantic Coast Conference. Its hockey program competes in Hockey East. |
