Residency

Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Policy

Boston University requires PhD students and MFA students with fellowship support to be present on campus unless their research or fieldwork requires them to be elsewhere. This requirement is in place to ensure that students can focus on their full-time studies and regularly engage with faculty members. Those pursuing a PhD or MFA with fellowship support from the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences must live in the Boston region during the term(s) in which they receive GRS support, and they are expected to participate in departmental and University activities. Students who leave the Boston region outside of required research or fieldwork during their first five years may forfeit their guaranteed fellowship funding. We understand that students may have personal reasons to leave the area, but such arrangements often violate policies and laws that prohibit payments. Students beyond their fifth year of study who leave the Boston region will not be eligible for fellowship, unless they’re required to be elsewhere for their research or fieldwork. All teaching fellows must be in residence.