Boston Rates High As A Great College Town

	Beacon Hill
	Boston Harbor
	Boston University
	Fenway Park
	Fleet Center
	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
	Museum of Fine Arts

Boston Receives High Marks as a Great College Town

More than 250,000 students call Boston and the surrounding area home. Because one in five residents is a college student, this is the ultimate collegetown. The past, present and future co-exist creating an energy that radiates through campuses drawing life from the academic communities. This is truly a cosmopolitan city with wonderful museums, restaurants, sports, nightlife, and entertainment. For more than three centuries, Boston has been a center of cultural and intellectual activity.

Some colleges and career schools are right downtown while others are just a short subway ride on the T. Students can experience Boston's history along the Freedom Trail, enjoy its seafood on the waterfront or explore neighborhoods like the Italian North End. Favorite sports include the Faneuil Hall Marketplace, the Charles River Esplanade for biking and blading, and the Public Gardens and Boston Commons for just relaxing. The city's elaborate public transportation system connects students to all these places and many more such as Newbury Street for shopping, the Fleet Center where the Bruins and Celtics play, and Symphony Hall, home of the Boston Pops and the Symphony Orchestra.

Beacon Hill features the Boston Stock Exchange, state and federal office buildings and the world-famous Massachusetts General Hospital. All of these facilties are used to great advantage by students in their study projects, cooperative education programs and internship experiences. Boston's charming Back Bay area is known for its many cultural offerings. The New England Conservatory of Music and the Museum of Fine Arts are all nearby. The Fenway area with bicycles and jogging paths is just a few blocks away.

The greater Boston area's thriving business districts provide professional opportunities and an extended campus. Across the Charles River is Cambridge and Harvard Square. A few hours away are the mountains of Vermont and the ocean beaches of Cape Cod. An extraordinary variety of young people from all over the world make Boston a great college town.

A private university located on the banks of the Charles River, Boston University is an energizing community. As a major research institution, the University fosters creativity and innovation. As an undergraduate institution, its faculty comprises some of the world's foremost experts who are dedicated to the art of teaching. Of the classes held in the freshman and sophomore years, the vast majority contain fewer than 30 students. Together, the eleven undergraduate schools and colleges offer 250 major and minor areas of concentration. Students may choose from programs of study in areas as diverse as biochemistry, broadcast journalism, business, computer engineering, elementary education, international relations, physical therapy, and theater arts. With students from all fifty states and more than 100 countries, Boston University has one of the most culturally diverse student bodies in the United States. The campus community supports nearly 400 different student organizations, ranging from ice broomball teams to performing arts groups, community service activities to student government, and clubs with cultural and professional as well as academic affiliations.

Boston College (BC) was founded in 1863 by the Jesuits to serve the sons of Boston's Irish immigrants. Today a coeducational university on more than 200 acres in Chestnut Hill, BC may seem a world apart from the small school in the crowded heart of Boston that was its first home. Through more than thirteen decades of growth and change, however, BC has held fast to the Jesuit ideals that inspired its founders. A Jesuit education today, as a century ago, is grounded in the liberal arts and in a commitment to the service of others.
As the needs of its student body have grown, so have the university's offerings: twelve schools, colleges, and institutes now offer eleven degree programs and two certificate programs. Undergraduates may enroll in the College of Arts and Sciences, the Wallace E. Carroll School of Management, the School of Nursing, or the Lynch School of Education.
BC's 8,900 undergraduates come from many backgrounds. The university draws from all fifty states and more than 100 countries. Students' religious and cultural backgrounds are similarly diverse. Today, the university's AHANA (African-American, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American) and international students comprise more than 20 percent of the undergraduate student body