BC and BU are in the same group ranking-wise. In terms of level, they’re essentially the same. The big difference is that BC is Catholic and Jesuit. It’s open to all faith traditions and attending mass is not mandatory at all, but it means you need to be comfortable with mandatory Theology classes (more like philosophy of religion than catechism!), crucifixes, and priests or Jesuits around campus. https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/jesuit-catholic.html
Compared to BU, there’s a definite campus and more “bro” culture.
BU feels more urban, less “jocky”, similar to NYU in some ways (with better housing, reputedly). It’s non denominational.
You should try and read descriptions in the Fiske Guide to tease out the vibe at these different colleges.
Yes, that seems to be the distinguishing factor as to whether an economics major is a “STEM” major. The CIP number of “econometric and quantitative economics” is 46.0603. Other economics majors with CIP codes 46.06xx are not considered “STEM” majors for the purpose in question. An economics major program at a college or university may not necessarily be named by its CIP code.
If you go to College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics , look up a college or university, and then look in the programs / majors under social sciences, you can see if “econometrics and quantitative economics” is present. Note that some schools offer both that major and “economics, general”, which means that if you want to do a DHS-classified “STEM” major, you need to be careful to choose the one that is “economics and quantitative economics” if you are doing an economics major.
Of course, this may not be applicable if your desired major is not one that straddles the border of “STEM” and “non-STEM” in DHS classifications. Note that the DHS “STEM” list includes 03.0103 “environmental studies” and 03.0104 “environmental science”, but does not appear to include any public policy type majors. You can do a similar check as above for these majors at each school on College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics .
So, know that when applying to this large set of universities, and paying a huge amount in fees, you need to plan for 4 years of education only, and then returning to your country.
The universities here will educate you. You are considered a guest of the university and the US government. They are under no obligation to provide you with any sponsorship for employment or living in the US. That’s under the control of US immigration policies.
Additionally the US government requires employers to seek out American citizens and permanent residents first, for any open positions in their companies. As a non-resident, even with an OPT year, a company is not required to employ you in the US. Priority goes to citizens and permanent residents.
Environmental studies and public policy is not lacking for applicants/graduates who wish to become employed in this area.