About the Columbian College

The George Washington University began in 1821 as The Columbian College. The College's origins can be traced to George Washington, who long argued for the creation of a university within the District of Columbia. In furtherance of that cause, Washington bequeathed 50 shares of The Potomac Company "towards the endowment of a University to be established within the limits of the District of Columbia, under the auspices of the General Government, if that government should incline to extend a fostering hand towards it." Due to congressional inaction, however, Washington's bequest was never utilized.

Aware of Washington's hopes and desirous of fostering education among missionaries and the clergy, a group of ministers and laymen raised funds for the purchase of a site for the College and petitioned Congress for a charter. The Congressional charter was approved by President Monroe on February 9, 1821 and The Columbian College was created. The name of the College was changed in 1873 to Columbian University and in 1904 to The George Washington University.

Since its founding, Columbian College, the University's original college of liberal arts and sciences, has been the cornerstone of the campus community. Its first bachelors degree was awarded in 1824, with the first Master of Arts degree following in 1831. The University awarded its first Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1888, one of the first institutions in the United States to do so.

While the Columbian College continued to house the undergraduate arts and sciences curriculum, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences was created in 1965. All undergraduate and graduate programs in the arts and sciences were combined in 1992 under one administration with the formation of the Columbian College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, simplified to Columbian College of Arts and Sciences in 2001.

Today, Columbian College offers a vast array of programs to both its undergraduate and graduate students. On the undergraduate level, students may elect one or more than 40 departmental majors, or they may elect double majors, interdisciplinary majors, or individualized degree programs. On the graduate level, Columbian College offers over 50 degree programs in the humanities, social sciences, natural and physical sciences, and biomedical sciences.