Online courses from Boston University Boston University’s impact extends far beyond our campus in the heart of Boston. Our students, faculty, and alumni travel around the globe to study, teach, and become immersed in the communities in which they live. As one of the world’s leading research universities, Boston University is currently engaged in more than 340 separate research, service, and educational programs and projects. Today, BU is the fourth-largest private university in the country and a member of the American Association of Universities, a nonprofit association of 62 of North America’s leading research-intensive institutions. With 17 schools and colleges BU offers our students more than 250 programs of study in science and engineering, social science and humanities, health science, the arts, and other professional disciplines. And after graduation? Our students take their place in a long line of alumni whose inclusive and engaged educational experience prepared them to help serve, shape, and improve the world.