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As Boston College’s oldest school, the College of Arts and Sciences has a long and distinguished history of imbuing students with a classic liberal arts education in the Jesuit, Catholic tradition.
But this year, A&S has achieved a new milestone.
According to recently compiled statistics from the Office of Student Services, A&S has its largest-ever undergraduate enrollment, at 6,153 students, surpassing the previous high of 6,137 from two years ago.
This represents the latest high-water mark for A&S in a three-decade period that has seen the school’s undergraduate enrollment gradually rise from around 5,000 to more than 6,000, a level it first surpassed in 2007. While the increase has been offset at various times during the 30 years, its overall impact is unmistakable: In 2001, for example, the school recorded 5,850 undergraduates, 5,563 in 1991, and 5,024 in 1981.
“Coming at a time when the College of Arts and Sciences has returned to its historic home,” said A&S Dean David Quigley, referring to the completed renovation of Gasson Hall, “it is reassuring to see how the enduring power of a classic arts and sciences education continues to draw students. At a time of high enrollments across the University, the rising quality of A&S students is a testament to the way A&S departments and programs bring timeless ideas and principles into conversation with contemporary society.”
A&S’ new enrollment record is one of several highlights in the Student Services report, viewed by many in the University community as a useful snapshot of BC student and academic trends.
The School of Theology and Ministry, BC’s newest school, has continued its encouraging progress. Starting with 297 students, STM’s enrollment has risen each fall, and now stands at 342.
Communication — marking its 50th year as a program at BC — once again is the University’s most popular undergraduate major, with 916 students. Economics, which includes majors from A&S and the Carroll School of Management, is second with 847 and biology is third with 827.
Neenan Millennium Professor James Anderson, chairman of the Economics Department, says the program’s popularity stems in part from a “cyclical” interest in studying economics, driven by the ongoing world financial situation. But he also sees a broader-based regard for the field: “If you look at, for example, opinion and editorial columns, economics has a larger share of the public intellectual space than in past. There seems to be a general rise in appreciation of quantitative social science, and economics is a big part of that trend.”
In consecutive years, biology and biochemistry (with 165 students) have recorded their highest total of majors in 25 years. Also at their highest level of enrollment in 25 years are Romance Languages (145) and, in a double achievement, applied psychology and human development (384) — the largest major ever recorded in the Lynch School of Education. “I believe these numbers reflect the fact that college students understand the importance and the value of studying languages at an advanced level,” said Professor Ourida Mostefai, chairwoman of the Romance Languages Department.
“Our students know that the major in Romance Languages and Literatures provides them with the kind of rigorous linguistic and cultural training that is an asset in any profession.”
Professor Brinton Lykes, chairwoman of the Lynch School Department of Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology, said the interest in applied psychology and human development was a reflection of the “deep commitment of the CDEP faculty to teaching, their innovative research and commitment to social justice, and the growing need for a diverse group of culturally competent counselors, research psychologists, mental health practitioners, and community advocates draw students to this critically important field of study.”
Other enrollment findings from the Office of Student Services:
• International Studies (204) and theology, philosophy and Faith, Peace and Justice (203) are the undergraduate minor areas of study with the largest enrollments.
• The 2011-12 undergraduate enrollment includes 297 students on BC international exchange programs.
• Among BC’s graduate programs, education attracted the most students (1,003), followed by arts and sciences (864) and management (839).