A vibrant community of students at Penn who share a passion for broad intellectual exploration
The BFS Vision
At a time of increased pressures to specialize, the Benjamin Franklin Scholars (BFS) program embraces the intellectual vitality that accrues to crossing boundaries and integrating knowledge. The BFS program is a Penn education PLUS directed at exploration beyond the major and outside the home school.
BFS Seminars
BFS Seminars offer enriching opportunities to engage with challenging topics, without requiring extensive prerequisites, both inside and outside students’ major fields of study. These classes reach out to non-specialists, facilitate close engagement with faculty, promote independent thinking, stimulate research, and enable curiosity to thrive.
Hill College House
All students accepted to BFS as incoming students live together in Hill College House, a first-year residence with suite lounges, an atrium, a dining commons, and social areas for cooking, gathering, and studying.