Georgetown University

Georgetown University International Student Insurance

Georgetown University, located in Washington, D.C., was established in 1789 as the first Jesuit and the first Catholic college in the United States. It was founded by former Jesuit priest John Carroll, who went on to become the Archbishop of Baltimore. Classes began in 1792. In 1815, U.S. President James Madison signed the university’s congressional charter into law, giving it the right to confer bachelor’s degrees. The first such degrees were awarded in 1817. The university almost closed during the Civil War, which depleted its enrollment to just 17 students. The medical school was founded in 1851, the law school in 1870, the school of dentistry in 1901 (which closed in 1990), and the school of nursing in 1903. Today, the university enrolls more than 19,000 students and counting each year. The school colors are blue and gray, and its athletic nickname is the Hoyas.

Academic and Research Opportunities

Georgetown offers undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral degrees across its ten academic divisions, among them the College of Arts and Sciences, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Walsh School of Foreign Service, the McDonough School of Business, and the McCourt School of Public Policy.

Georgetown has been classified as a university with “very high research activity” by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The Law School in particular features the fifth-largest library in the United States. Notable research centers and institutes at Georgetown include the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs; the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding; and the Woodstock Theological Center.

Reputation

Georgetown is known as a highly selective university and one of the most prestigious in the United States. It’s home to the country’s largest student-run business (Georgetown, Inc.), the largest financial institution run by students (the Georgetown University Alumni & Student Federal Credit Union), the oldest continuously running student theater group (the Mask and Bauble Dramatic Society), and one of the oldest debate clubs (the Philodemic Society). Other points of interest on campus include a Seismological Observatory and the Georgetown University Astronomical Observatory.

Notable Alumni

Notable Georgetown University alumni include former U.S. President Bill Clinton; U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia; former President of Colombia Alfonso López Michelsen; actor Bradley Cooper; comedian John Mulaney; and Warner Bros. CEO Ann Sarnoff.

^{Photo credit}