diff --git src/bp-xprofile/bp-xprofile-classes.php src/bp-xprofile/bp-xprofile-classes.php
index 5fb8e50..9768b71 100644
--- src/bp-xprofile/bp-xprofile-classes.php
+++ src/bp-xprofile/bp-xprofile-classes.php
@@ -2440,13 +2440,33 @@ class BP_XProfile_Field_Type_Textarea extends BP_XProfile_Field_Type {
 	 * @since BuddyPress (2.0.0)
  	 */
 	public function __construct() {
+
 		parent::__construct();
 
 		$this->category = _x( 'Single Fields', 'xprofile field type category', 'buddypress' );
 		$this->name     = _x( 'Multi-line Text Area', 'xprofile field type', 'buddypress' );
+		$this->type     = 'textarea';
 
 		$this->set_format( '/^.*$/m', 'replace' );
+
+		// Create custom filters that mirror 'the_content' for formatting output
+		add_filter( 'bp_xprofile_field_type_textarea_content', 'wptexturize'        );
+		add_filter( 'bp_xprofile_field_type_textarea_content', 'convert_smilies'    );
+		add_filter( 'bp_xprofile_field_type_textarea_content', 'convert_chars'      );
+		add_filter( 'bp_xprofile_field_type_textarea_content', 'wpautop'            );
+		add_filter( 'bp_xprofile_field_type_textarea_content', 'shortcode_unautop'  );
+
+		// Override and augment allowed tags
+		add_filter( 'xprofile_allowed_tags', array( $this, 'allowed_tags' ), 30, 2 );
+
+		// Parse the edit value
+		add_filter( 'bp_get_the_profile_field_edit_value', array( $this, 'get_field_value' ), 30, 3 );
+
+		// Filter for those who use xprofile_get_field_data instead of get_field_value
+		add_filter( 'xprofile_get_field_data', array( $this, 'get_field_data' ), 15, 3 );
+
 		do_action( 'bp_xprofile_field_type_textarea', $this );
+
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -2465,10 +2485,7 @@ class BP_XProfile_Field_Type_Textarea extends BP_XProfile_Field_Type {
 			unset( $raw_properties['user_id'] );
 		}
 
-		$r = bp_parse_args( $raw_properties, array(
-			'cols' => 40,
-			'rows' => 5,
-		) ); ?>
+		$richtext_enabled = bp_xprofile_is_richtext_enabled_for_field(); ?>
 
 		<label for="<?php bp_the_profile_field_input_name(); ?>">
 			<?php bp_the_profile_field_name(); ?>
@@ -2477,11 +2494,34 @@ class BP_XProfile_Field_Type_Textarea extends BP_XProfile_Field_Type {
 			<?php endif; ?>
 		</label>
 
-		<?php do_action( bp_get_the_profile_field_errors_action() ); ?>
+		<?php do_action( bp_get_the_profile_field_errors_action() );
 
-		<textarea <?php echo $this->get_edit_field_html_elements( $r ); ?>><?php bp_the_profile_field_edit_value(); ?></textarea>
+		if ( ! $richtext_enabled ) {
+			$r = wp_parse_args( $raw_properties, array(
+				'cols' => 40,
+				'rows' => 5,
+			) );
 
-		<?php
+			?>
+
+			<textarea <?php echo $this->get_edit_field_html_elements( $r ); ?>><?php bp_the_profile_field_edit_value(); ?></textarea>
+
+			<?php
+
+		} else {
+			$editor_args = apply_filters( 'bp_xprofile_field_type_textarea_editor_args', array(
+				'teeny'         => true,
+				'media_buttons' => false,
+				'quicktags'     => true,
+			) );
+
+			// Create the editor
+			wp_editor(
+				bp_get_the_profile_field_edit_value(),
+				bp_get_the_profile_field_input_name(),
+				$editor_args
+			);
+		}
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -2493,25 +2533,207 @@ class BP_XProfile_Field_Type_Textarea extends BP_XProfile_Field_Type {
 	 * @since BuddyPress (2.0.0)
 	 */
 	public function admin_field_html( array $raw_properties = array() ) {
-		$r = bp_parse_args( $raw_properties, array(
-			'cols' => 40,
-			'rows' => 5,
-		) ); ?>
 
-		<textarea <?php echo $this->get_edit_field_html_elements( $r ); ?>></textarea>
+		$richtext_enabled = bp_xprofile_is_richtext_enabled_for_field();
 
-		<?php
+		if ( ! $richtext_enabled ) {
+
+			$r = wp_parse_args( $raw_properties, array(
+				'cols' => 40,
+				'rows' => 5,
+			) );
+
+			?>
+
+			<textarea <?php echo $this->get_edit_field_html_elements( $r ); ?>></textarea>
+
+			<?php
+
+		} else {
+
+			$editor_args = apply_filters( 'bp_xprofile_field_type_textarea_editor_args', array(
+				'teeny'         => true,
+				'media_buttons' => false,
+				'quicktags'     => true,
+			) );
+
+			// Create the editor
+			wp_editor(
+				'',
+				'xprofile_textarea_' . bp_get_the_profile_field_id(),
+				$editor_args
+			);
+		}
 	}
 
 	/**
 	 * This method usually outputs HTML for this field type's children options on the wp-admin Profile Fields
-	 * "Add Field" and "Edit Field" screens, but for this field type, we don't want it, so it's stubbed out.
 	 *
 	 * @param BP_XProfile_Field $current_field The current profile field on the add/edit screen.
 	 * @param string $control_type Optional. HTML input type used to render the current field's child options.
 	 * @since BuddyPress (2.0.0)
 	 */
 	public function admin_new_field_html( BP_XProfile_Field $current_field, $control_type = '' ) {}
+
+	/**
+	 * Format Visual Editor content for display.
+	 *
+	 * @since BuddyPress (2.1.0)
+	 *
+	 * @param string $field_value The Visual Editor content, as saved in the database.
+	 * @return string Formatted HTML.
+	 */
+	public static function display_filter( $field_value ) {
+
+		$richtext_enabled = bp_xprofile_is_richtext_enabled_for_field();
+
+		if ( $richtext_enabled ) {
+
+			/**
+			 * This is a bit of a hack because formatted text looks strange with the
+			 * 'xprofile_filter_link_profile_data' filter applied. If instead, we parse
+			 * this field type in read mode after all BuddyPress filters have been applied
+			 * we can avoid this. Moreover, this method is called outside the scope of $this,
+			 * so we have to directly reference the name of this class in the filter
+			 */
+			add_filter( 'bp_get_the_profile_field_value', array( 'BP_XProfile_Field_Type_Textarea', 'get_field_value' ), 30, 3 );
+
+		}
+
+		// return the data as received and format in get_field_value() below
+		return $field_value;
+
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Show our field type in read mode
+	 *
+	 * @param string $value
+	 * @param string $type
+	 * @param integer $id
+	 * @return string
+	 */
+	public function get_field_value( $value = '', $type = '', $id = '' ) {
+
+		// is it our field type?
+		if ( $type == 'textarea' ) {
+
+			global $field;
+
+			// sanity check
+			if ( ! is_object( $field ) ) return $value;
+
+			// get enabled and default to enabled if not yet present
+			$richtext_enabled = bp_xprofile_get_meta( $field->id, 'field', 'richtext_enabled', true );
+			if ( $richtext_enabled === false ) $richtext_enabled = 1;
+			$richtext_enabled = ( $richtext_enabled == 1 ) ? true : false;
+
+			if ( $richtext_enabled ) {
+
+				// we want the raw data, unfiltered
+				$value = $field->data->value;
+
+				// apply content filter
+				$value = apply_filters( 'bp_xprofile_field_type_textarea_content', stripslashes( $value ) );
+
+				return apply_filters( 'bp_xprofile_field_type_textarea_value', $value );
+
+			}
+
+		}
+
+		// fallback
+		return $value;
+
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Filter for those who use xprofile_get_field_data instead of get_field_value
+	 *
+	 * @param string $value
+	 * @param integer $field_id
+	 * @param integer $user_id
+	 * @return string
+	 */
+	public function get_field_data( $value = '', $field_id = '', $user_id = '' ) {
+
+		// check we get a field ID
+		if ( $field_id === '' ) return $value;
+
+		// get field object
+		$field = new BP_XProfile_Field( $field_id );
+
+		// is it ours?
+		if ( $field->type == $this->type ) {
+
+			// get enabled and default to enabled if not yet present
+			$richtext_enabled = bp_xprofile_get_meta( $field->id, 'field', 'richtext_enabled', true );
+			if ( $richtext_enabled === false ) $richtext_enabled = 1;
+			$richtext_enabled = ( $richtext_enabled == 1 ) ? true : false;
+
+			if ( $richtext_enabled ) {
+
+				// apply content filter
+				$value = apply_filters( 'bp_xprofile_field_type_textarea_content', stripslashes( $value ) );
+
+				// return filtered value
+				return apply_filters( 'bp_xprofile_field_type_textarea_value', $value );
+
+			}
+
+		}
+
+		// fallback
+		return $value;
+
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Callback to allow tags that teeny TinyMCE enables
+	 *
+	 * @since BuddyPress (2.2.0)
+	 *
+	 * @param array $allowedtags The array of allowed tags
+	 * @param object $data_obj The xProfile data object (BP 2.1+)
+	 * @return array $allowedtags The modified array of allowed tags
+	 */
+	public function allowed_tags( $allowedtags, $data_obj = null ) {
+
+		// test if BP has sent the data object
+		if ( ! is_null( $data_obj ) ) {
+
+			// get field from data object
+			$field = new BP_XProfile_Field( $data_obj->field_id );
+
+			// if this isn't our field, skip amending allowed tags
+			if ( $field->type != $this->type ) return $allowedtags;
+
+			// get enabled and default to enabled if not yet present
+			$richtext_enabled = bp_xprofile_get_meta( $field->id, 'field', 'richtext_enabled', true );
+			if ( $richtext_enabled === false ) $richtext_enabled = 1;
+			$richtext_enabled = ( $richtext_enabled == 1 ) ? true : false;
+
+			// bail if not rich text
+			if ( ! $richtext_enabled )  return $allowedtags;
+
+		}
+
+		// default tags we need to enable the teeny TinyMCE editor markup
+		$richtext_tags = array(
+			'img'    => array( 'id' => 1, 'class' => 1, 'src' => 1, 'alt' => 1, 'width' => 1, 'height' => 1 ),
+			'ul'     => array( 'id' => 1, 'class' => 1 ),
+			'ol'     => array( 'id' => 1, 'class' => 1 ),
+			'li'     => array( 'id' => 1, 'class' => 1 ),
+			'span'   => array( 'style' => 1 ),
+			'p'      => array( 'style' => 1 ),
+		);
+
+		$allowedtags = array_merge( $allowedtags, $richtext_tags );
+
+		return apply_filters( 'bp_xprofile_field_type_textarea_allowedtags', $allowedtags, $data_obj );
+
+	}
+
 }
 
 /**
diff --git src/bp-xprofile/bp-xprofile-functions.php src/bp-xprofile/bp-xprofile-functions.php
index f6f2dee..cf98978 100644
--- src/bp-xprofile/bp-xprofile-functions.php
+++ src/bp-xprofile/bp-xprofile-functions.php
@@ -967,6 +967,22 @@ function bp_xprofile_fullname_field_name() {
 }
 
 /**
+ * Is rich text enabled for this profile field?
+ *
+ * @since BuddyPress (2.2.0)
+ *
+ * @param int $field_id Optional. Default: current field ID.
+ * @return bool
+ */
+function bp_xprofile_is_richtext_enabled_for_field( $field_id = null ) {
+	if ( ! $field_id ) {
+		$field_id = bp_get_the_profile_field_id();
+	}
+
+	return apply_filters( 'bp_xprofile_is_richtext_enabled_for_field', true, $field_id );
+}
+
+/**
  * Get visibility levels out of the $bp global
  *
  * @return array
diff --git src/bp-xprofile/bp-xprofile-template.php src/bp-xprofile/bp-xprofile-template.php
index 5c9e53f..a9b070c 100644
--- src/bp-xprofile/bp-xprofile-template.php
+++ src/bp-xprofile/bp-xprofile-template.php
@@ -359,7 +359,13 @@ function bp_the_profile_field_id() {
 }
 	function bp_get_the_profile_field_id() {
 		global $field;
-		return apply_filters( 'bp_get_the_profile_field_id', $field->id );
+
+		$field_id = 0;
+		if ( ! empty( $field->id ) ) {
+			$field_id = $field->id;
+		}
+
+		return apply_filters( 'bp_get_the_profile_field_id', $field_id );
 	}
 
 function bp_the_profile_field_name() {