This article was originally reported in August 2025. A latest update on admissions and funding has been added below.
In August 2025, Boston College (BC) announced that its Board of Trustees had approved a new Ph.D. program in computer science, the department’s first doctoral program. The five-year program, in the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, focuses on two research areas: artificial intelligence and machine learning, and the theory of computation (BC News, August 2025).
What BC announced
- Size: a first cohort of five students entering in fall 2026, growing to about 25 doctoral students in total.
- Research focus: AI and machine learning, and the theory of computation, areas where the department already has strengths.
- Context: the Computer Science Department, which moved from the Carroll School of Management to the Morrissey College in the 2000s, had 533 undergraduate majors at the time of the announcement.
Program director Sergio Alvarez, an associate professor, said computer science “has transformed contemporary life” and that BC, with its mission to advance the common good, should take part in that change. Department chair George Mohler, Fitzgerald Professor, said, “Students receiving a formative education need to be versed in how that technology works.” Morrissey College dean Fr. Gregory Kalscheur, S.J., said a Ph.D. program “will allow us to deepen our scholarly engagement” with the social and ethical implications of computing.
Program structure
According to the department’s Ph.D. page (BC Computer Science: Ph.D. Program):
- At least 60 credits, including 24 dissertation credits and 6 credits of advanced independent study; at least 18 credits must be computer science courses, with breadth requirements in theory, AI and systems, and a required course on the societal and ethical dimensions of computing.
- An algorithms background (equivalent to BC’s CSCI 3383) with a grade of B or higher by the end of the first year.
- A one-credit teaching seminar and research seminar in the first year, and two semesters as a teaching assistant.
- A research area and advisor chosen by the end of the second year; a qualifying exam, normally by the fall of the third year, based on two months of independent research with a written report and oral exam; a dissertation proposal approved before the fourth year; and a public defense.
- Students are admitted to the program as a whole rather than to a particular research group.
Latest update: admissions and funding
- Deadline: applications for the fall 2027 cohort open on September 1 and close on December 15, 2026, through BC’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
- Funding: the department aims to support each full-time student for five ten-month academic years, subject to satisfactory progress, through teaching or research assistantships, with limited summer support.
- Stipend level: for 2025–26, BC raised its doctoral stipend to $33,750 for the nine-month academic year plus one month of summer support, a baseline of $37,500 (BC News, January 2025). Check with the department for the current figure for computer science.
What international applicants should consider
- A small, new program. With only about five students a year, admission is likely to be very competitive, and the faculty pool is smaller than at large research universities. Read faculty members’ recent papers to make sure someone works in your area before applying.
- Two focused areas. The program concentrates on AI/machine learning and theory. Applicants interested in systems, security or other fields should check whether any BC faculty supervise in those areas.
- Funding and work limits. A funded assistantship counts as on-campus employment for F-1 students, who may work up to 20 hours a week while school is in session. Confirm in writing what your offer covers (tuition, stipend, health insurance and fees).
- Boston options. BC is in the Boston area, which has many other computer science doctoral programs, so it is common to apply to several schools in the region.
Boston College at a glance
BC is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. In Forward Pathway’s ranking database it is No. 31 among national universities in the 2027 U.S. News ranking, and its undergraduate computer science program is No. 88 in the 2027 U.S. News undergraduate computer science ranking (Forward Pathway U.S. college rankings; program rankings). In fall 2025 BC enrolled 5,118 graduate students, including 966 international students (IPEDS data on the Forward Pathway school page).