Boston University  (most commonly referred to as BU or otherwise known as Boston U.) is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is non-sectarian, but is historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church.

The university has more than 3,800 faculty members and 33,000 students, and is one of Boston’s largest employers. It offers bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, and doctorates, and medical, dental, business, and law degrees through eighteen schools and colleges on two urban campuses. The main campus is situated along the Charles River in Boston’s Fenway – Kenmore and Allston neighbourhoods, while the BU Medical Campus is in Boston’s South End neighbourhood.

BU is categorized as an RU/VH Research University (very high research activity) in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. BU is a member of the Boston Consortium for Higher Education and the Association of American Universities.

The university counts seven Nobel Laureates, twenty-three Pulitzer Prize winners, nine Academy Award winners, and several Emmy and Tony Award winners among its faculty and alumni. BU also has MacArthur, Sloan, and Guggenheim Fellowship holders as well as American Academy of Arts and Sciences and National Academy of Sciences members among its past and present graduates and faculty.

The Boston University Terriers compete in the NCAA’s Division I. BU athletic teams
compete in the Patriot League, and Hockey East conferences, and their mascot is Rhett the Boston Terrier. It is well known for men’s hockey, in which it has won five national championships, most recently in 2009.

Boston University offers bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, and doctorates, and medical, dental, and law degrees through its 18 schools and colleges. The newest school at Boston University is the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies (established 2014), and the newest name is the Questrom School of Business (renamed in 2015).

U.S. News & World Report ranks BU tied for 41st among national universities and 32nd among global universities for 2016. Boston University was also ranked 10th among public health graduate schools, 16th among social work schools, tied for 26th among law schools, 30th among medical schools (research), tied for 37th among engineering schools, tied for 43rd among business schools, and 52nd among education schools.

QS World University Rankings in 2015 ranked Boston University 91st overall in the world. Times Higher Education in 2015 ranked BU 64th overall in the world and 30th among U.S. universities.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Academic Ranking of World Universities ranks Boston University 42nd in the United States and 73rd in the world, in its 2015 list. Newsweek (International Edition), in its list of the Top 100 Global Universities, ranked BU the 35th in the United States, and 65th in the world.