Welcome to Metropolitan College (MET), one of the 17 schools and colleges that comprise Boston University. Founded in 1839, Boston University is internationally recognized as a top institution of higher learning and research, offering more than 300 undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, and special degree programs, along with the resources of 13 libraries and over 130 academic centers and institutes. With more than 37,500 students from all 50 states and 180+ countries, as well as 431,000+ living alumni, Boston University is one of the largest independent universities in the United States.
A Bridge from BU to the World
Since 1965, Metropolitan College has played a unique role within Boston University, serving as a bridge from BU to the community and the world. With its mission to broaden the reach of BU through part-time and online programs designed to help busy adults achieve their personal and professional ambitions, BU MET serves as a laboratory and incubator for new programs, pedagogy, and educational technologies. Students have access to cutting-edge facilities and the latest learning tools—as well as the opportunity to build networks with classmates and industry peers. At BU MET, you will find liberating flexibility, an engaging learning community, valuable career networks, and rigorous, practical coursework.
Why BU MET?
When you study at BU MET, you participate in an exciting exchange of ideas—a spirit of innovation that reaches far beyond the classroom into the global arena. You’re connecting to students and faculty from around the world, engaging in new perspectives, fresh challenges, and novel solutions. Whether you are a professional seeking a career advantage with a bachelor’s or master’s degree, a lifelong learner looking for personal enrichment, or an international student here to gain unique business expertise, you share in the pursuit of an education that prepares you for the competitive and evolving needs of today’s world.
Faculty of Scholars & Practitioners
MET’s accomplished full-time and part-time faculty have achieved real-world success to complement their academic credentials and inform their scholarship. As a student here, you benefit from their passion and experience, gaining an understanding of those critical details and unplanned-for situations that are bound to arise in the field—and that may not be examined in more theoretical texts. The benefit to you is that you can apply practical expertise to the concepts you’re learning, which gives you an advantage in the workplace.
Through this combination of first-hand industry expertise and relevant scholarly research, faculty at BU MET are able to anticipate, and reflect in their teaching, areas ripe for innovation and high growth in industry—helping to close skills gaps and providing students with opportunities to advance in their careers.
World-Class Education
When you enroll at BU MET, you’ll be getting a top-quality education from a degree-granting college of Boston University—one of the world’s best-known and most respected universities. In 2012, the University was invited into the Association of American Universities (AAU), an exclusive consortium of 62 leading research universities in the United States and Canada.
Along with accreditation by the New England Commission of Higher Education, several BU MET degree programs have additional accreditation by agencies such as AACSB International―The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (through BU’s Questrom School of Business), the Project Management Institute Global Accreditation Center for Project Management Education Programs (GAC), and the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM). Learn more about our rankings and accreditation.
Career Advancement
A résumé with a BU credential is one of your most valuable resources in a competitive job market. BU MET’s unique degree and certificate programs provide the specialized knowledge and training you need to achieve success, advance your career, or secure the job you really want. Our emphasis on practical, hands-on education means that lessons learned in the classroom can be applied immediately on the job—helping you innovate in your role and setting the stage for career advancement.
Networks & Connections
Online or on campus, in the BU MET classroom you are part of a diverse community of self-motivated learners from a variety of professions and backgrounds—and taught by faculty with valuable industry connections. Along with peer networks, BU MET offers opportunities to collaborate on faculty research through graduate assistantships, international conference presentations, and initiatives such as the Health Informatics Research Lab (HILab), the Project Management in Practice (PMiP) conference, and the Center for Reliable Information Systems and Cyber Security (RISCS), among others.
Flexibility & Convenience
You don’t have to turn your personal life upside down or put your career on hold to get the education you want. Most BU MET classes are held evenings on campus or online—sometimes blending the two for added flexibility. Plus, while all BU MET programs are offered part-time, in many cases you can opt to study full-time.
Unique, Specialized Programs
BU MET’s innovative courses and programs focus on the most cutting-edge areas of industry, offering career-boosting education for success in tech-driven and analytics-enabled roles. Today, the College hosts more than 80 undergraduate and graduate degrees and certificates, along with hundreds of individual courses—and we’re often adding new programs and degree concentrations to our roster. We can help you assess your objectives and suggest programs of study tailored to your specific needs and background—simply contact us or sign up to attend an Admissions Information Session or online Webinar. Visit our Events page for upcoming dates.
Affordable Education & Scholarship Opportunities
Don’t let Boston University’s renown deter you. For students studying part-time, tuition at BU MET is surprisingly affordable, and there are a variety of financial aid, scholarship, and graduate assistantship options to help you pursue the education you seek.
Lifelong Learning
Metropolitan College’s noncredit programs are perfect for those lifelong learners who aren’t seeking a college degree or looking to earn academic credit. Stimulate your curiosity and satisfy your desire for personal enrichment, or enhance your career potential with a noncredit certificate to help you prepare for a career change, gain valuable job skills, or compete with rapidly changing industry standards.
Center for Professional Education
Boston University’s Center for Professional Education (CPE) offers highly respected, non-credit certificate programs to help you master the latest techniques and best practices in your field—from commercial real estate, financial planning, and genealogical research to interpreting, paralegal studies, and professional fundraising. See upcoming information sessions.
Evergreen
Continue the lifelong adventure of learning through Evergreen—Boston University’s academic resource for students ages 58 and over. Whether you wish to audit a course or attend a lecture, Evergreen enables you to tap the rich vein of knowledge at one of the world’s top-ranked universities.
Programs in Food & Wine
Practice your mise-en-place with some of the finest chefs in Boston and the nation. With a faculty of restaurateurs, cookbook authors, mixologists, food producers, industry pros, and chefs from the most talked-about restaurants in town, Boston University’s Programs in Food & Wine range from hands-on cooking classes and kitchen demonstrations to programs for kids, Beverage Studies programs, and the Certificate Program in Culinary Arts—developed in 1989 by Programs in Food & Wine founding director Rebecca Alssid along with legendary chefs Julia Child and Jacques Pépin.
Boston University Online
Since 2002, Boston University has been offering award-winning online learning programs designed via a unique collaboration between Metropolitan College’s Distance Education office and faculty members throughout the University’s schools and colleges. The Distance Education office consists of a team of instructional designers, media producers, and support staff who specialize in online education. Learn more about BU programs offered online.
Boston University Summer Term
Every summer, Boston University Summer Term offers more than 700 undergraduate and graduate courses in a wide range of subjects, representing most of Boston University’s 17 schools and colleges. With a range of Metropolitan College evening courses offered each summer, Boston University Summer Term is a great way to continue earning credits toward your BU degree, develop professional expertise, or explore new topics for personal enrichment. Learn more about BU Summer Term.
MET International
International partnerships overseen by Metropolitan College’s MET International continue Boston University’s long-standing commitment to international higher education and global engagement. Through strategic alliances with educational institutions and organizations worldwide, the College’s international partnerships offer innovative academic delivery models, as well as access to the Boston University experience—exclusively for students from our partner institutions abroad.
The MET International team is responsible for facilitating the development and overseeing the implementation of Metropolitan College’s internationally oriented academic programs in Boston, as well as for fostering the College’s strategic collaborations with organizations abroad.
For more information about MET International, visit bu.edu/metinternational.
Get Started
Share in the dialogue. Find new opportunities and connections—and, eventually, become part of the worldwide Boston University alumni community. Now is the time to get started.
Please visit the BU MET admissions page for details on how to apply, financial assistance, tuition and fees, requirements for international students, and more.
November 18th, 2024 at: 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Curated Cuisine: A conversation with Cook's Country editors
November 20th, 2024 at: 1:00pm - 1:45pm
The Inside Scoop: BU MET Graduate Admissions for Domestic Students (US Citizens & Permanent US Residents)
December 9th, 2024 at: 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Curated Cuisine: Historian Jessica B. Harris on the culinary and cultural traditions of Kwanzaa