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Undergraduate
Undergraduate
Our students represent a variety of backgrounds, from first-time undergraduates and community college transfers to veterans and parents returning to the classroom later in life. We are proud to offer all students an education that adapts to their unique needs, goals, and lives, backed by the resources and prestige of a Boston College degree.
Find Your Program
Applied Liberal Arts
B.A.
Think critically, learn deeply, and analyze a myriad of problems across various different contexts and situations. You'll gain a strong academic foundation, an invaluable skillset for today's world, and a depth of spirit that will help you act as an empathic problem solver.
The Applied Liberal Arts degree consists of six major requirements and either five or six courses within a specific discipline.
Choose from six concentrations:
- English
- History
- Interdisciplinary Studies
- Philosophy
- Political Science
- Sociology
Degree Options
B.A.
Career Paths
- Advertising & Public Relations
- Journalist
- Research Analyst
- Educator
- Archivist
- Public Policy
- Law
Career Support
Career development is a campuswide effort, with many faculty and staff professionals personally helping you find internships, apply to graduate schools, or simply understand your options. Your career discernment and planning starts from the moment you set foot on campus and continues throughout your life.
Business
B.A.
In this Business bachelor’s degree program, you will build the communication expertise all employers need, as well as in-demand skills including critical thinking, ethical leadership, quantitative analysis, project management, and risk management.
Students graduate with a skillset that’s agile, wide-ranging, and informed by data. With a solid foundation in data analysis, project managment, communications and more, students are ready to step forward as socially responsible, ethically-oriented business leaders.
Requirements:
- Data Analysis and Probability
- Digital Marketing Strategy
- Principles of Economics
- Project Management
- Financial Accounting
- Management and Organizational Behavior
- Corporate Communication
- Principles of Finance
- Business Law
- Strategic Leadership
Degree Options
B.A.
Career Paths
- Financial Manager
- Purchasing Manager
- Human Resource Manager
Career Support
Career development is a campuswide effort, with many faculty and staff professionals personally helping you find internships, apply to graduate schools, or simply understand your options. Your career discernment and planning starts from the moment you set foot on campus and continues throughout your life.
Criminal & Social Justice
B.A.
Explore the social, economic, and psychological factors of criminal behavior and understand how criminal justice operates in modern society. You’ll also assess political, legal, and judicial institutions and the ethical issues surrounding criminality and punishment.
B.A.
Students graduate understanding the processes through which criminal laws are made and enforced, the major theories of criminality, and the economic and psychological factors that underpin criminal behavior. They will apply social scientific research methods to particular case studies while honing their written and spoken communication skills.
Sample courses:
- Introduction to Criminology
- Criminal Law
- Criminal Justice
- Research Methods for the Social Sciences
- Two upper-level sociology and/or psychology courses
Degree Options
B.A.
Career Paths
- Police Officer
- Probation or Parole Officer
- Special Agent
- Paralegal
- Criminal Defense Lawyer
- District Attorney
- Law Student
- Social Work Student
Career Support
Career development is a campuswide effort, with many faculty and staff professionals personally helping you find internships, apply to graduate schools, or simply understand your options. Your career discernment and planning starts from the moment you set foot on campus and continues throughout your life.
Cybersecurity
B.A.
Want to join the fight against cyberattacks and work in one of the world’s fastest-growing fields? This flexible B.A. program provides a robust foundation that will prepare you to meet the surging demand for skilled cybersecurity professionals and succeed in the ever-changing cyber ecosystem.
With some 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs around the world, our expert-taught program provides core competencies that will enable you to protect both public and private organizations from today’s urgent threats. Through in-person, online, and hybrid course options ranging from Computer Networks to Ethical Hacking, our curriculum emphasizes risk management, risk tolerance, and risk mitigation.
Degree Options
B.A.
Career Paths
- Cyber Risk Analyst
- Information Security Engineer
- Security Operations Analyst
- FBI Special Agent
- Risk Compliance Analyst
Career Support
Career development is a campuswide effort, with many faculty and staff professionals personally helping you find internships, apply to graduate schools, or simply understand your options. Your career discernment and planning starts from the moment you set foot on campus and continues throughout your life.
Cybersecurity Certificate
Certificate
In today’s ever changing cybersecurity landscape, the success of a security program needs to have its roots in risk management -- implementing security controls and compliance with regulatory requirements to achieve the level of risk tolerance acceptable to the organization.
The cybersecurity certificate program lays the foundation for security professionals to achieve success. The cybersecurity program provides a robust baseline of skills needed to adapt to changes in business, technology, and threat environments. Within the program, emphasis will be placed on the concept of risk management, risk tolerance, and risk mitigation.
With a customizable six-course curriculum that blends online and in-person classes. Courses include:
- Cybersecurity Fundamentals
- Computer Security
- Technical Writing
- Computer Networks
- Systems Analysis and Design
- Python Programming (elective)
- C++ Programming (elective)
Degree Options
Certificate
Career Paths
- Cyber Risk Analyst
- Information Security Engineer
- Security Operations Analyst
- Risk Compliance Analyst
Career Support
Career development is a campuswide effort, with many faculty and staff professionals personally helping you find internships, apply to graduate schools, or simply understand your options. Your career discernment and planning starts from the moment you set foot on campus and continues throughout your life.
Digital Communications
B.A.
Acquire an in-depth understanding of the many ways communication affects—and is affected by—modern societies. Ranging in focus from interpersonal communication to how advertisers, political campaigns, and the media employ mass communication, this major or certificate equips you to analyze information across several facets of life.
B.A.
Through this major, students hone their spoken and written communication skills and examine theories of interpersonal, relationship, group, organizational, and mass communication. Students will apply social scientific research methods to case studies and consider the ethical implications of mass communication in society.
Degree Options
B.A.
Career Paths
- Communication Professional
- Public Relations Specialist
- Advertising
- Editor
- Underwriter
- Technical Writer
Career Support
Career development is a campuswide effort, with many faculty and staff professionals personally helping you find internships, apply to graduate schools, or simply understand your options. Your career discernment and planning starts from the moment you set foot on campus and continues throughout your life.
Economics
B.A. M.S.
Want to understand how consumers and businesses behave? For students aspiring to master the theory and practical skills central to our market-driven world, this program provides a 360-degree understanding of economic dynamics in modern societies.
Students aiming to become bankers, business managers, market researchers, budget analysts, or others working in careers where they need to know the intricacies of economies will be well-suited for success with this degree. Students learn to differentiate between market structures and analyze case studies using theories of economic growth, unemployment, and inflation.
Required courses:
- Principles of Economics: Micro
- Principles of Economics: Macro
- Macroeconomic Theory
- Microeconomic Theory
- Elementary Economic Statistics
- Your choice of three upper-level Economics electives
Degree Options
B.A.
M.S.
Career Paths
- Banker
- Business Manager
- Market Researcher
- Budget Analyst
Career Support
Career development is a campuswide effort, with many faculty and staff professionals personally helping you find internships, apply to graduate schools, or simply understand your options. Your career discernment and planning starts from the moment you set foot on campus and continues throughout your life.
English (Applied Liberal Arts B.A.)
Learn the narrative and stylistic techniques employed by classic writers of fiction and nonfiction in order to:
- Write at an advanced level
- Distinguish between different periods in American and British literature
- Interpret literature through the lenses of class, race, gender, and historical context
- Thoughtfully criticize works of literature
- Imaginatively inhabit the perspectives of others
In addition to courses in British, American, and World literature, the curriculum requires four additional English electives, as well as two writing courses.
Degree Options
B.A.
Career Paths
- Journalist
- Speech Writer
- Grant Writer
- Development Officer
- Research Analyst
- Copy Editor
- Copywriter
- Public Relations Officer
Career Support
Career development is a campuswide effort, with many faculty and staff professionals personally helping you find internships, apply to graduate schools, or simply understand your options. Your career discernment and planning starts from the moment you set foot on campus and continues throughout your life.
History (Applied Liberal Arts B.A.)
Our curriculum encompasses European, American, pre-modern, and non-Western history. As critical thinkers, students apply tools and concepts of historical inquiry and communicate research results clearly and effectively.
Major requirements:
- Modern History I
- Modern History II
- Two American History courses
- One Pre-Modern History course
- One Asian, African, Latin American, or Middle Eastern History course
- Four History electives
Degree Options
B.A.
Career Paths
- Educator in Elementary and Secondary Schools
- Researcher in Historical Organizations
- Archivist
- Records Manager
- Law Student
Career Support
Career development is a campuswide effort, with many faculty and staff professionals personally helping you find internships, apply to graduate schools, or simply understand your options. Your career discernment and planning starts from the moment you set foot on campus and continues throughout your life.
Information Technology
B.A.
Today's organizations depend on information technology expertise. Students pursuing this degree or certificate prepare to fill that role by working their way from simple computer applications toward advanced software and hardware development.
B.A.
This major emphasizes technical and theoretical issues in information technology. From project management to collaborative computing, the curriculum prepares you to program computer applications and employ software and technology related to security.
You'll begin with an immersion in the basic tools and concepts of computing, then move on to examine programming, modern computer and web-based applications, and advanced software and hardware development.
Degree Options
B.A.
Career Paths
- Database Administrator
- Information Systems Manager
- IT Consultant
- Systems Developer
- Network Engineer
Career Support
Career development is a campuswide effort, with many faculty and staff professionals personally helping you find internships, apply to graduate schools, or simply understand your options. Your career discernment and planning starts from the moment you set foot on campus and continues throughout your life.
Interdisciplinary Studies (Applied Liberal Arts B.A.)
This flexible program allows you to choose courses in consultation with your advisor. You’ll graduate with a comprehensive, multifaceted understanding of our contemporary times and be prepared to:
- Address a variety of research problems using an interdisciplinary approach
- Design research projects that respect the ethical boundaries inherent in the study of humans
- Communicate effectively in writing and orally
- Collaborate meaningfully with your peers and faculty
Degree Options
B.A.
Career Paths
- Teacher
- Marketing Manager
- Education Administrator
- Human Resource Associate
- Development Officer
- Residential Counselor
- Social Work Student
Career Support
Career development is a campuswide effort, with many faculty and staff professionals personally helping you find internships, apply to graduate schools, or simply understand your options. Your career discernment and planning starts from the moment you set foot on campus and continues throughout your life.
Nondegree Coursework
Enhance your understanding of specific disciplines, discern your interests, and try out a subject before committing to a program. Our nondegree offerings allow you to convert to degree-seeking status should you be accepted, while benefitting from the rigor of a Boston College education.
Nondegree students are vital to Woods College and Boston College, enriching the classroom and our communities. They come to Woods to learn new skill sets, improve their understanding of specific disciplines, and complete certificate programs. Some may also be looking to try out a subject before committing to a program or enhance their academic track record.
Degrees Options
Career Support
Career development is a campuswide effort, with many faculty and staff professionals personally helping you find internships, apply to graduate schools, or simply understand your options. Your career discernment and planning starts from the moment you set foot on campus and continues throughout your life.
Philosophy (Applied Liberal Arts B.A.)
This major is ideal for students who seek to understand the world around them at its deepest level. You'll learn to address fundamental questions about knowledge, goodness, and the nature of human experience in a clear, systematic fashion. With a curriculum anchored in the great works of antiquity and the Enlightenment, this program introduces students to the major fields of philosophical inquiry including political philosophy, the philosophy of religion, and the philosophy of science.
Degree Options
B.A.
Career Paths
- Paralegal
- Nonprofit Administrator
- Journalist
- Writer
- Educator
- Law Student
Career Support
Career development is a campuswide effort, with many faculty and staff professionals personally helping you find internships, apply to graduate schools, or simply understand your options. Your career discernment and planning starts from the moment you set foot on campus and continues throughout your life.
Political Science (Applied Liberal Arts B.A.)
Students graduate from this major with a strong grasp of the intricacies of political life, able to analyze political processes and institutions from a variety of theoretical perspectives.
Requirements:
- Fundamental Concepts of Politics
- Social and Political Philosophy
- Comparative Politics
- International Relations
- Research Methods for the Social Sciences
- Gender Politics
- Law and Morality
- Two courses in American Politics
- Two upper-level Political Science and/or Law electives
Degree Options
B.A.
Career Paths
- Public Policy
- Campaign Worker
- City Manager
- Lobbyist
- Foreign Service
- Office Paralegal
- Law Student
Career Support
Career development is a campuswide effort, with many faculty and staff professionals personally helping you find internships, apply to graduate schools, or simply understand your options. Your career discernment and planning starts from the moment you set foot on campus and continues throughout your life.
Psychology
B.A.
Do you wonder why we do what we do and what makes us tick? Seek the answers through this flexible program, which covers aspects of many applied areas in psychology. Courses are offered nights, online, and in a hybrid format.
This major is ideal for students who want to analyze human behavior through the lenses of developmental history, social sciences, cognitive psychology, and civil society. You'll study with leading practitioners and industry experts as you learn to apply key theories from the field of psychology to solve real-world issues at work, in your community, and in society.
Requirements:
- Introduction to Psychology
- Research Methods for the Social Sciences
- Developmental Psychology
- Applied Statistics
- Cognitive Psychology
- Psychology in Context
- Six Psychology electives
Degree Options
B.A.
Career Paths
- Community Service Manager
- Health Educator
- Market Research Analyst
- Social Services Advocate
- Case Manager in Human Services
- Employee Experience Specialist
- ABA Therapist
- Strategic/Brand Planner
Career Support
Career development is a campuswide effort, with many faculty and staff professionals personally helping you find internships, apply to graduate schools, or simply understand your options. Your career discernment and planning starts from the moment you set foot on campus and continues throughout your life.
Sociology (Applied Liberal Arts B.A.)
B.A.
Develop the skills necessary to apply a sociological lens to everyday life in addition to scholarly research. You will learn to analyze and critique social, structural, and cultural factors that influence those experiences with a particular focus on using these skills for the betterment of the human condition.
This program will introduce you to classical and contemporary sociological theories and challenge you to apply these theories in evaluating social phenomena. By the time you graduate, you’ll have a firm grasp on the complexities of behavior and interaction in modern societies.
Requirements:
- Introductory Sociology
- Sociological Theories
- Research Methods for the Social Sciences
- Qualitative Methods
- Class, Power, and Social Change
- Three upper-level Sociology courses
- Two upper-level Political Science and/or Psychology electives
Degree Options
B.A.
Career Paths
- Social Worker
- Student Criminologist
- High School Teacher
- Policy Analyst
- Demographer
- Survey Researcher
- Statistician
Career Support
Career development is a campuswide effort, with many faculty and staff professionals personally helping you find internships, apply to graduate schools, or simply understand your options. Your career discernment and planning starts from the moment you set foot on campus and continues throughout your life.
Cost of a Boston College Degree
$76,000
Approximate Total Cost of B.A. at the Woods College
108 credits over fall and spring and 12 credits in summer (based on Academic Year 2024-2025 tuition)
For the full cost of attendance, please visit the WCAS Undergraduate Cost of Attendance page.
Many Paths to a Degree
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“Most important to me is the class size that Woods College offers. My classes are usually always under 25 students; this has allowed me to consistently make connections with my professors and with my classmates.”
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“Evening classes allow a mix of working professionals and young adults, whose experiences and perspectives further enrich learning.”
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“I began taking college courses 30 years ago and am excited at the prospect of earning a college degree at this time in my life. With the flexible schedule available at the Woods College, I am able to work full time, attend class, and be supportive to my family.”
Your College Experience
Saturday afternoon kickoffs, study abroad opportunities,
performances at the Robsham Theater Arts Center, the
Endeavor career exploration retreat—enjoy the full
Boston College experience as a Woods student.
Woods College of Advancing Studies
Woods College of Advancing Studies offers Bachelor's and Master's degrees, certificates, and professional education opportunities. If you're interested in furthering your education, we have something for you.
Professional Education
Courses and Microcredentials.
Non-Degree Offerings
Take a course, see how it goes.