Education with a heart and soul—and the power to transform
Boston College, the first institution of higher education to operate in the city of Boston, is today among the nation’s foremost universities, a leader in the liberal arts, scientific inquiry, and student formation.
Grounded in the ideals that inspired our Jesuit founders, Boston College urges students to look inward but always to reach out—to develop their minds and talents to the fullest and use them in service to others.
We ask our students to explore the big questions and challenge them to ask: What difference will I make? How will my knowledge serve the world?
Where We Began
Boston College was founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) to educate Boston’s predominantly Irish, Catholic immigrant community. It opened its doors on September 5, 1864, in a building on Harrison Avenue in Boston’s South End, a “small streetcar college” for commuting students.
When it outgrew the limitations of the space, then-president Rev. Thomas I. Gasson, S.J., bought 31 acres of the former Lawrence Farm in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, and broke ground in 1909 on a new campus, today fondly known as “the Heights.”
BC began as an undergraduate liberal arts college, but as its aspirations grew, it added graduate programs and professional schools fulfilling its charter as a university.
Where We Are Going
Boston College builds upon its traditions. It seeks to be the national leader in the liberal arts; to fulfill its Jesuit, Catholic mission of faith and service; to continue to develop model programs to support students in their formation; and to seek solutions—as researchers, educators, leaders, and caregivers—that directly address the world’s most urgent problems.
Guiding Our Path
Boston College remains committed to leading its students on a comprehensive journey of discovery—one that integrates their intellectual, personal, ethical, and religious formation.
Inspiration for Boston College’s academic and societal mission is drawn from the University’s distinctive religious and intellectual heritage. As a Jesuit, Catholic University, Boston College is rooted in a world view that calls us to learn, to search for truth, and to live in service to others. To fulfill that mission, we welcome and embrace the contributions of a diverse student body from many faith traditions.
President's Message
Boston College: Answering Society's Call
On behalf of the entire Boston College family, I am pleased to introduce you to Boston College, and to offer my vision for the University.
The history of Boston College is a narrative of response to society's call. In 1863, that call came from an immigrant community that sought a Jesuit education to foster social mobility. Boston College offered that promise.
Today, the call emanates from a world that has experienced an explosion of knowledge, but not a corresponding growth in understanding; a world that too often lacks trust in its leaders and faith in its institutions. It is a world that has developed wondrous technologies that link continents, but isolate human beings, leaving many men and women weary and dispirited, feeling distant from moral purpose, uncertain about knowledge or the very worth of human endeavor.
Boston College is uniquely capable of answering this call, of speaking to this world. As an institution of higher education, Boston College is committed to the discovery and transmission of knowledge. But reflecting its Jesuit and Catholic heritage, it also seeks to integrate excellence and religious commitment, to both inform and form its students.
Boston College endeavors to educate a new generation of leaders—men and women who will be capable of shaping the future with vision, justice, and charity—with a sense of calling, with concern for all of the human family.
We pursue this challenge because it is a worthy goal for any university, but particularly for Boston College, a university uniquely suited to be a beacon of hope and light for all. I invite you to join us, as a prospective student, parent, or friend.
William P. Leahy, S.J.
President