Bachelor of Arts

RYI is pleased to announce its new approach to its on-campus and online courses, starting in Fall 2023. Recognizing the value of being present on campus within the Buddhist environment of Boudha, with its access to monastic learning, Tibetan and Nepali speakers, and a climate of reflection and practice, we will require all new degree students (BA, MA Buddhist Studies, MA Translation, Textual Interpretation and Philology) to study on campus with us, beginning in Fall 2023.

To view the spring 2024 course offerings, please visit this page.

There will be opportunities for BA students to take some of their classes online after their first year. We will continue to offer all of our language classes and text classes with our monastic faculty both on campus and online, for credit and not-for-credit. To complete the full degree, however, a significant on-campus presence will be required.

For those of you who are not already living in Nepal, we trust that the value added by virtue of being on campus will outweigh the effort involved to relocate to Nepal. It is very much a special experience to study here in Nepal.

Please visit our admissions page for application details and program-specific dates

“If you are interested in learning Tibetan language and Buddhist philosophy in general, then I would highly recommend the BA. The teachers are amazing and there is a wonderful atmosphere here where everything is close. It’s a community of students and I think it is an incredible experience.”

Victor Olin (Sweden)

Bachelor of Arts in Buddhist Studies with Himalayan Language

The Centre for Buddhist Studies offers a four-year program in Buddhist Studies with Himalayan Language leading to the degree of Bachelor of Arts (BA). The courses in the BA program fall within two main areas of study: Buddhist Philosophy, History, and Culture, and Himalayan Language. For the BA degree, approximately two thirds of the courses concern Buddhist philosophy while the remaining third consists of courses in Himalayan languages such as Tibetan, Sanskrit, and Nepali, although students can choose to emphasize philosophy over language or vice versa. 

By the end of the BA program, successful students will have developed a broad knowledge of the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist tradition and its historical and philosophical development, and a deep knowledge of the Tibetan approach to Buddhist philosophical study. In terms of language ability, depending on the emphasis placed by each student, he or she will be conversant in modern Tibetan and Nepali, able to read classical Tibetan and Sanskrit, and follow teachings directly in Tibetan, or possess some combination of these skills.

For a detailed description of the program, including Admission Requirements, please see our BA Course Description.