Undergraduate Study Options
The George Washington University offers students a breadth and depth of learning opportunities that are integrated not only with one another, but also with the rich resources of the nation’s capital. For our students, GW’s 88 majors and 2,000 undergraduate courses are just the beginning. Our outstanding study options include:
Combined Degrees
GW’s combined degree programs offer exceptional students with a clear sense of direction an opportunity to accelerate their studies through compressed coursework, reducing the number of years required to earn an advanced degree.
University Honors
For a select group of GW students, the University Honors Program enhances the educational experience through intellectual engagement with each other and their faculty mentors, special problem-based seminars and classes and intensified academic challenge.
Preparing for Law or Medicine
GW advocates a strong and broad liberal arts education as a foundation for pursuing both law and medicine. Advisers in the Office of Undergraduate Studies assist students in matching their majors and interests with courses that may be helpful in graduate school—or required for most medical schools.
Academic Housing
GW students can make their housing an eye-opening extension of the educational experience through living and learning cohorts. These are student-led interest groups within a house that connect the living experience with academic pursuits and self-exploration.
Summer Opportunities
GW offers an integrated array of resources for students from both GW and other universities who want to make the most of their summer months— through courses on campus, online and abroad, as well as through access to Washington’s numerous world-class institutions.
To begin examining the countless possibilities that will shape your academic vision, use GW’s Explore Tool—a guide to the full spectrum of courses, majors and concentrations.
University Writing Program
Students have access to a broad variety of opportunities to improve their writing. The University Writing Program consists of a special freshman-year class dedicated to writing fundamentals in a topical setting. Students also take upper-level writing courses in the disciplines of their choosing.
The GW Experience
Students
All in the Family
Greg and Heather Hachenburg talk about their undergraduate experience at GW, one of many sibling pairs to share in the Colonials legacy.
Creating Next Generation Leaders
GW program helps female students connect with leading women across a variety of fields and develop their roles as future women in leadership.
Where the City is a Classroom
Freshman volunteers experience life beyond Foggy Bottom...
Faculty
Fighting Neglected Diseases
GW professor works to eradicate diseases that affect the health, education and economic development of the world's poorest people.
Building the Super Computer
Pioneering lab puts GW at the forefront of high-speed computing and offers GW students unprecedented access to science and skills of the future.
Blast From the Past
Students map an ancient—and dramatic—eruption as part of a geological research program in the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains.
Alumni
Giving Back to the District of Columbia
D.C. public health director calls GW education the foundation of his career.
GW Opens Doors
A chance encounter with a GW alumna helped give one GW undergraduate, an aspiring broadcast journalist from Texas, his big break.
The Legend Lives On
The $2 million bequest commitment caps a lifetime of philanthropy and service to GW, establishing the Elyse B. and Donald R. Lehman Endowed Professorship in Theoretical Physics.