At BU, we offer more than just a comfortable place to lay your head, study, and eat. We provide housing that nourishes the mind, and spirit, by connecting students through academic or extracurricular passions.
There are two types of shared-interest communities on campus: Living-Learning and Specialty. The key difference is the former is connected with academic credit and the latter is not.
These faculty-guided communities focus on experiential learning and discovery beyond the classroom. They offer opportunities for interdisciplinary and interprofessional collaboration with students and faculty from across disciplines, direct advising and mentoring, and interactions that promote intellectual development and foster community learning.
Some examples of BU’s LLCs include Earth House, focusing on sustainability and environmental issues, and Global House, centered around foreign language proficiency. Kilachand Honors College also offers an LLC, and another is built around the Core Curriculum.
Specialty community houses, and floors in dormitories large and small, are accommodations in which students with similar interests live, study, and socialize. They are created and sustained by students with the support of faculty and staff and provide unique living environments based on mutual intellectual, cultural, and social affinities. The specialty houses on campus are centered around such interests as educational interests, community service, and music, to name a few.
Specialty community residences are designed to:
For more information about living-learning and specialty communities, please contact Residence Life at 617-353-4380, or visit any residence office. Learn more about Living-Learning and Specialty Communities.
Can indicate their interest in up to three Living-Learning Communities or Specialty Communities on their New Student Housing Application; no further application or approval is required.
Must complete an application and be approved to live in Living-Learning Communities or Specialty Communities. Current students must receive approval before they can select the residence during room selection in the spring or change rooms (through a direct swap or room change offer). This application process is administered by Residence Life.
Instructions for how to apply to live in a Living-Learning Communities or Specialty Communities, as well as the application itself, can be found on the Living-Learning and Specialty Community Residences website.
There are specific times each year when students are encouraged to apply for Living-Learning Communities or Specialty Communities (e.g., prior to the Room Selection process). However, students may submit an application at any time.
