Undergraduate Programs

Learning Experience at GW

What You Can Expect...

Today’s undergraduates come to GW expecting a high level of academic challenge. To meet these expectations, GW offers a broad range of customized programs in addition to research, discovery and creative activities that directly involve students in the intellectual life of the institution. At GW, you’ll experience a high level of student-faculty interaction through a carefully planned mix of large lectures and small classes, seminars and service learning initiatives. You can also expect top-tier academic facilities, including many high-tech classrooms, an extensive library collection, cutting-edge technology resources and business and service operations to support excellence in the academic enterprise.

Each year, about 9,500 full-time undergraduates are enrolled in classes on the Foggy Bottom and Mount Vernon campuses in D.C. GW offers 87 majors across the spectrum of business, engineering, international affairs, communications and media, sciences and math, social sciences, arts, languages and the humanities.

As early as your freshman year, you can study with professors who are recognized for achievement within their fields and who will bring the world to you.

In addition, the University Honors Program is available to students—in all undergraduate schools of the university—who are inspired by academic rigor, challenging questions and the desire to make a difference in the world.

Unique combined programs are also available for those who wish to complete more than one degree in an accelerated timeframe, bridging the arts with law and/or medicine, or undertaking a bachelor’s/master’s degree combination across the arts, social sciences, business and/or engineering.

Benefits of Being in D.C.

Our students quickly realize and value a very important aspect of their GW experience: They study in the nation’s capital. As a result, classroom subjects, symposia and research projects are often debated, arbitrated, analyzed and reported as part of the greater national discussion between elected leaders and the nation’s citizenry or the global community. Washington, D.C., is also the hub for a wide variety of scientific institutes and agencies that conduct cutting-edge research. The net result is that all academic discourse and the exchange of ideas in the classroom have an undeniable real-world relevance.

Undergraduate Research – In the classroom, expectations run high. Professors demand a lot from their students, and GW students demand equal rigor from their coursework and professors. You’ll find classes to be stimulating and intellectually exciting. Undergraduate students also are encouraged to engage in hands-on research and discovery. This approach is a hallmark of GW, which is further enhanced by the university's unparalleled location.

International Study

In addition to our intellectual assets, we also make a solid commitment to presenting multicultural and international points of view across our curriculum. In 2008, almost 1,400 students participated in GW’s study-abroad programs spanning 50 countries. More information on this benefit is available, both in this section as well as under International Programs.

Services and Technology

Freshman residence halls have individual student Internet access, e-mail and cable TV. Students have access to wireless technology on campus and can easily download classroom notes, take exams and have classroom discussion groups with Blackboard courseware. They can also register for classes and review financial aid information online. And they can customize their GW experience through the University portal, featuring a calendar of student meetings, class schedules, news and banking, as well as daily events and activities.

Libraries and Facilities

GW has five libraries. Gelman, the university's flagship library with over 2 million titles, Burns Law Library and Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library serve the main GW campus in Foggy Bottom. On the Mount Vernon Campus, Eckles Library holds a print collection of over 64,000 titles with special strengths in political science, women's history and contemporary issues and interior design. The Virginia Campus Library is especially equipped to meet the needs of GW's Research and Technology campus in Northern Virginia. In addition, GW is a member of the elite Washington Research Library Consortium, which combines the libraries of eight area universities and offers more than 7.5 million volumes to its student community.

The University continues to expand its academic facilities, which include a multifunctional center for the study of international affairs located within blocks of the State Department; the Acheson Science Center on the Mount Vernon Campus, with state-of-the-art laboratory facilities; and GW's newest academic building, Duquès Hall, home to the School of Business. GW Hospital is the newest hospital in Washington, D.C., and provides teaching and research resources for medical students.