As a nearly 500-year-old tradition of academic excellence around the world, it is interesting to ponder how Jesuit, Catholic liberal arts education will intersect with the future of higher education. There has been a striking decline in the value of a college degree in U.S. public opinion polls. The liberal arts are being threatened and, in some cases, completely abandoned as part of cost-cutting measures. Americans are wondering what the actual advantage of a liberal arts education is. In this issue, we explore the historical, contemporary, and future value of Jesuit, Catholic liberal arts education from multiple perspectives.

Explore resources from this issue and more

The Invaluable Question: Who Will Our Students Become?
The Invaluable Question: Who Will Our Students Become?
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The Invaluable Question: Who Will Our Students Become?

The Invaluable Question: Who Will Our Students Become?

Watch "The Power of a Jesuit Education" video.
A Vision for a Jesuit, Catholic University
A Vision for a Jesuit, Catholic University
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A Vision for a Jesuit, Catholic University

A Vision for a Jesuit, Catholic University

Learn more about University President Fr. William P. Leahy, S.J.

Liberal Arts in the Jesuit Tradition: A Historical Perspective
Liberal Arts in the Jesuit Tradition: A Historical Perspective
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Liberal Arts in the Jesuit Tradition: A Historical Perspective

Liberal Arts in the Jesuit Tradition: A Historical Perspective

Order Michael T. Rizzi's Jesuit Colleges and Universities in the United States: A History (Catholic University of America Press, 2022).

Explore the map of Jesuit colleges and universities in the U.S.

Learn more about Boston College's history through a brief history of BC, or read the books The Heights: An Illustrated History of Boston College, 1863–2013 (Linden Lane Press, 2014) and Ever to Excel: A History of Boston College (Jesuit Sources, 2021).

Photo Caption | With the completion of Gasson Hall in 1913 (center), Boston College moved from its first home in Boston’s South End (top right) to its current campus in Chestnut Hill. By 1946 (left), four buildings had been completed on the new campus. However, it was on Harrison Ave in the South End where BC’s tradition of excellence in Jesuit education began and many achievements were made, such as this library bookplate awarded to the student Patrick Callanan in 1873 and signed by Robert Fulton, S.J., Boston College’s first dean and the only person to have served twice as BC’s president.

Photo Credits | Gasson Hall (center), Courtesy of Clifton Church, Boston College, 1918; Church of the Immaculate Conception (top right), Courtesy of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Boston College, c. 1860; Reservoir (left), Boston College campus aerial view, 1946; Library bookplate (bottom right), Courtesy of Gary Wayne Gilbert, Boston College.
Celebrating Catholic Education
Celebrating Catholic Education
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Celebrating Catholic Education

Celebrating Catholic Education

Watch Fr. Michael Himes's full homily from Fenway Park celebrating the Sesquicentennial Anniversary of Boston College.

Watch Fr. Michael Himes's Agape Latte on Family. 

Watch Fr. Michael Himes's Agape Latte on Finding Hope.
Core Curriculum: The Heart of a Jesuit, Catholic University
Core Curriculum: The Heart of a Jesuit, Catholic University
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Core Curriculum: The Heart of a Jesuit, Catholic University

Core Curriculum: The Heart of a Jesuit, Catholic University

Learn about Boston College's Core Curriculum.

Learn more about Boston College's Justice and the Common Good Living Learning Community.
Student Reflections on the Core
Student Reflections on the Core
Unveiling Sources: The Jesuit Tradition in Higher Education and How to Cultivate It
Unveiling Sources: The Jesuit Tradition in Higher Education and How to Cultivate It
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Unveiling Sources: The Jesuit Tradition in Higher Education and How to Cultivate It

Unveiling Sources: The Jesuit Tradition in Higher Education and How to Cultivate It

Read the full text of Christopher A. Snyder's "A Liberal Education in Name Only" (Inside Higher Ed, 2023).

Learn more about Boston College's Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies.

Photo Caption | Pictured here is the handwritten manuscript entitled "Various Rules for the Direction of the Teachers of B.C.," penned by Robert Fulton, S.J., BC’s first dean. Accompanying this manuscript is a copy of the 1850 edition of the Ratio Studiorum (Plan of Studies), which provided the common curriculum and academic structure that united all Jesuit colleges.

Photo Credit | Ratio Studiorum and Fulton’s Rules, Courtesy of Gary Wayne Gilbert, Boston College. 

 
The Value Proposition of a Liberal Arts Education
The Value Proposition of a Liberal Arts Education
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The Value Proposition of a Liberal Arts Education

The Value Proposition of a Liberal Arts Education

Learn about Boston College's Catalyst Program.

Discover Boston College's opportunities for service work through the Volunteer & Service Learning Center and Campus Ministry's Service Immersion programs. 

Read about the life and leadership of Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., (1928–2016) 29th Superior General of the Society of Jesus.

Learn more about Fr. Kolvenbach's influence and thought regarding Jesuit education:

—Fr. Kolvenbach's speech from "Assembly '89," the 1989 gathering celebrating 200 years of Jesuit education in the United States 

—"Commitment to Justice in Jesuit Higher Education," Fr. Kolvenbach's October, 2000, contribution to The Santa Clara Lectures.

Explore Professor Thomas Groome's What Makes Education Catholic: Spiritual Foundations (Orbis, 2021).
The Catholic Intellectual Tradition and the Jesuit, Catholic University
The Catholic Intellectual Tradition and the Jesuit, Catholic University
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The Catholic Intellectual Tradition and the Jesuit, Catholic University

The Catholic Intellectual Tradition and the Jesuit, Catholic University

Watch the full lecture on The Catholic Intellectual Tradition and the Jesuit, Catholic University by Gregory Kalscheur, S.J., given on January 30, 2024.

Learn more about the Catholic Intellectual Tradition.
Love in Jesuit Pedagogy
Love in Jesuit Pedagogy
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Love in Jesuit Pedagogy

Love in Jesuit Pedagogy

Learn more about Boston College's PULSE Program and the Center for Teaching Excellence.
Investing in the Future: Lifelong Skills through the Liberal Arts
Investing in the Future: Lifelong Skills through the Liberal Arts
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Investing in the Future: Lifelong Skills through the Liberal Arts

Investing in the Future: Lifelong Skills through the Liberal Arts

Learn more about John L. Mahoney.

Explore the Boston College Career Center's support and resources for BC students and BC student outcomes.

Learn about Boston College Admissions.
The Value of My Jesuit Education
The Value of My Jesuit Education
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The Value of My Jesuit Education

The Value of My Jesuit Education

Explore Boston College's Center for Student Formation.

Gather tools to "find God in all things" by learning about the Examen.
The Most Practical of Questions
The Most Practical of Questions
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The Most Practical of Questions

The Most Practical of Questions

Read Christopher Higgin's original article with citations.

Explore Christopher Higgins's book, Undeclared: A Philosophy of Formative Higher Education (The MIT Press, 2024).

Learn more about Formative Education at the Boston College Lynch School of Education and Human Development. 
Cultivating Conscience: Why I Chose Catholic Higher Education
Cultivating Conscience: Why I Chose Catholic Higher Education
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Cultivating Conscience: Why I Chose Catholic Higher Education

Cultivating Conscience: Why I Chose Catholic Higher Education

Learn more about Boston College's Division of Student Affairs.
A Theological and Ecological Reflection
A Theological and Ecological Reflection
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A Theological and Ecological Reflection

A Theological and Ecological Reflection

Learn more about Boston College's Clough School of Theology and Ministry.

Explore courses and more online resources open to all interested with Clough School of Theology and Ministry's Crossroads.

Find more information on the Boston College McMullen Museum of Art. 
Shine Your Light for All to See
Shine Your Light for All to See
Opening Minds
Opening Minds
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Opening Minds

Opening Minds

Liberal Arts for All | Learn more about Boston College's Prison Education Program.

Human-Centered Engineering and the Core | Learn more about Boston College's Human-Centered Engineering Program.
Messina’s Mission: Expanding Access to Transformative Jesuit Education
Messina’s Mission: Expanding Access to Transformative Jesuit Education
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Messina’s Mission: Expanding Access to Transformative Jesuit Education

Messina’s Mission: Expanding Access to Transformative Jesuit Education

Explore Boston College's first two-year residential program, Messina College.

Discover more

St. Ignatius Statue with flowers
Students sitting outside of Burns Library

Boston College Mission & Ministry Programs

Seniors walking convocation
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