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George Washington University

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George Washington University Overview

George Washington University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Washington, District of Columbia. The surrounding area of the school is a good match for students who enjoy city life.

What Is George Washington University Known For?

3,667 Undergraduate Awards
$53,925 Avg Cost After Aid
43% Acceptance Rate
  • The student loan default rate at GWU is 2%, which is significantly lower than the national rate of 10.1%. That's great news for students who are worrying about paying off their student loans.
  • Although it may not be available for every major, the doctor's degree is the highest award a student can attain at GWU.
  • For the 2017-2018 academic year, 49% of the faculty were full-time.
  • After graduation, GWU bachelor's degree recipients go on to jobs where they make $69,600 a year. That's about 71% more than their peers at other schools.
  • On average, it takes about 4.1 years for students from GWU to earn a bachelor's degree. This is excellent when compared to the average of 4.4 years.

Best Schools

George Washington University Rankings

GWU is ranked #128 out of 2,587 schools in the nation for overall quality on our 2022 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 5% of all schools in the nation. GWU also holds the #2 spot on the Best Colleges in District of Columbia ranking.

Our rankings are based on an outcomes-based approach rather than subjective ones used by other media outlets. As such, we utilize data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard, among other sources. Visit our rankings and methodology section to learn more.

GWU has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.

Rank Ranking Name Share
#28 Best Associate Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#52 Best Graduate Certificate Schools Tweet It - Post It
#93 Best Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#114 Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It

Program Level Awards

These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at GWU.

Rank Ranking Name Share
#1 Best Homeland Security Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#1 Best Molecular Medicine Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#1 Best Publishing Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#4 Best Allied Health Professions Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#4 Best Law Enforcement & Firefighting Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#8 Best Natural Resources & Conservation Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#12 Best Communication & Journalism Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#20 Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#32 Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#68 Best Business, Management & Marketing Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards GWU has earned from around the web.

Rank Ranking Name Source
#5 Best Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting Schools College Factual
#19 Best Engineering Technologies Schools College Factual
#24 Best Public Administration & Social Service Schools College Factual
#25 Best Communication & Journalism Schools College Factual
#57 Best Business, Management & Marketing Schools College Factual
#101 Best Business Schools Business Degree Central

Where Is George Washington University?

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Contact details for GWU are given below.

Contact Details
Address: 1918 F Street, Nw, Washington, DC 20052
Phone: 202-994-1000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/georgewashingtonuniversity
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/GWtweets

How Do I Get Into GWU?

You can apply to GWU online at: https://undergraduate.admissions.gwu.edu/apply-gw

Admission Requirements for GWU

Submission Required?
High School GPA recommended
High School Rank neither required nor recommended
High School Transcript required
College Prep Program required
Recommendations required
SAT or ACT Scores considered but not required
TOEFL required

How Hard Is It To Get Into GWU?

43% Acceptance Rate
64% Of Accepted Are Women
50% Submit SAT Scores
GWU has a fairly low acceptance rate of 43%, which makes it more selective than most schools. Take time to make sure you submit all the requested materials and you prepare the application in full. You don't want to get denied right off the bat due to an incomplete application!

Approximately 36% of accepted students are men and 64% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 43%, and the acceptance rate for women is 43%.

Average Test Scores

About 50% of students accepted to GWU submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 640 and 720. Math scores were between 630 and 730.

SAT Reading and Writing Scores for George Washington University  ( 640 to 720 )
200
800

SAT Math Scores for George Washington University  ( 630 to 730 )
200
800
GWU received ACT scores from 27% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 30 and 35. Math scores were between 26 and 31. Composite scores were between 30 and 33.

ACT English Scores for George Washington University  ( 30 to 35 )
1
36
ACT Math Scores for George Washington University  ( 26 to 31 )
1
36
ACT Composite Scores for George Washington University  ( 30 to 33 )
1
36

Can I Afford George Washington University?

$53,925 Net Price
35% Take Out Loans
2.2% Loan Default Rate
The overall average net price of GWU is $53,925. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.

Student Loan Debt

While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At GWU, approximately 35% of students took out student loans averaging $8,914 a year. That adds up to $35,656 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at GWU is 2.2%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.

George Washington University Undergraduate Student Diversity

10,141 Full-Time Undergraduates
63% Women
36% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
There are 11,763 undergraduate students at GWU, with 10,141 being full-time and 1,622 being part-time.

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There are also 15,254 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 10,141 full-time undergraduates at GWU, 37% are male and 63% are female.

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Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of George Washington University students is as follows.

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 1,214
Black or African American 811
Hispanic or Latino 1,174
White 5,053
International Students 1,111
Other Races/Ethnicities 778

Geographic Diversity

District of Columbia students aren't the only ones who study at George Washington University. At this time, 49 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 133 countries are represented at GWU. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, India, and South Korea.

Online Learning at George Washington University

5,311 Took All Classes Online
6,868 Took At Least One Class Online
5.0% Avg Growth Over 4 Years
There are 4 bachelor’s degree and 11 master’s degree programs available online at GWU. In 2019-2020, 6,868 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at GWU has changed over the last few years.

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This school is the most popular in District of Columbia for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.

Online Affordability Rankings of GWU

The following table shows how GWU is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are not mostly online.

Major Tuition for In-State Students Tuition for Out-of-State Students
Legal Support Services #1 #1
Publishing #7 #7
Microbiological Sciences & Immunology #7 #7
International Education #10 #10
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology #10 #10
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science #13 #13
International Studies #13 #13
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics #16 #16
Educational Assessment #25 #25
Political Science & Government #27 #27
Public Relations & Advertising #33 #33
Hospitality Management #34 #34
General Biology #34 #34
Systems Engineering #46 #46
International Relations & National Security #49 #49
Legal Professions #52 #52
Allied Health Professions #55 #55
Homeland Security #64 #64

Online Growth Rankings of GWU

The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at George Washington University was 5.0%. This is the #1,548 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at GWU regardless of major.

The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of GWU majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.

Major 1-Year Growth Rate
Allied Health Professions 5%
Engineering Technologies 1%
Engineering-Related Fields 1%
Health & Medical Administrative Services 4%

The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at GWU ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at GWU.

Major Growth Rate Rank
Museum Studies #9
Educational Assessment #38
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science #61
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions #89
Engineering-Related Fields #97
Teaching English or French #110
Legal Support Services #151
Allied Health Professions #160
Public Health #222
Legal Professions #235
Engineering Technologies #282
Special Education #334
Teacher Education Subject Specific #338
Multi / Interdisciplinary Studies #439
Educational Administration #484

When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.

George Washington University Undergraduate Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major Associate’s Bachelor’s Graduate Certificate Master’s Doctor’s TOTAL
International Relations & National Security 0 538 3 343 0 884
Public Health 0 63 27 477 5 572
Nursing 0 303 22 212 24 561
Political Science & Government 0 311 1 178 8 498
Law 0 0 0 0 427 427
Health & Medical Administrative Services 0 22 10 297 7 336
Business Administration & Management 0 0 50 279 3 332
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science 201 37 51 17 0 306
Information Technology 0 65 3 213 0 281
Economics 0 176 0 56 10 242
Computer Science 0 43 1 174 20 238
International Business 0 132 56 0 0 188
Human Resource Management 0 29 50 92 15 186
Finance & Financial Management 0 153 31 0 0 184
Educational Administration 0 0 105 57 21 183
Engineering-Related Fields 0 0 3 138 32 173
Child Development & Psychology 0 145 0 15 3 163
Medicine 0 0 0 0 154 154
Accounting 0 58 7 84 0 149
Systems Engineering 0 16 0 113 7 136
Electrical Engineering 0 16 0 109 9 134
Legal Research 0 0 0 132 2 134
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods 0 31 21 72 0 124
Statistics 0 34 0 83 4 121
General Biology 0 92 1 16 3 112
Allied Health Professions 0 41 4 67 0 112
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology 0 0 0 82 27 109
Public Relations & Advertising 0 38 3 62 0 103
Computer Software & Applications 0 0 13 90 0 103
Applied Mathematics 0 0 1 102 0 103
Mechanical Engineering 0 53 1 37 10 101
Homeland Security 0 5 0 95 0 100
Public Policy 0 0 0 86 12 98
Marketing 0 82 14 0 0 96
Information Science 0 27 0 69 0 96
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions 0 0 0 45 46 91
History 0 68 0 12 4 84
Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology 0 0 0 67 6 73
Communication Sciences 0 13 0 59 0 72
Legal Support Services 0 0 22 50 0 72
Public Administration 0 0 0 71 0 71
Biomedical Engineering 0 51 0 16 3 70
International Education 0 0 24 43 0 67
Hospitality Management 0 31 4 29 0 64
General English Literature 0 52 0 6 0 58
Museum Studies 0 0 10 47 0 57
Journalism 0 51 0 5 0 56
Computer Information Systems 0 39 17 0 0 56
Special Education 0 0 5 41 7 53
Criminal Justice & Corrections 0 49 0 3 0 52
Geography & Cartography 0 26 15 9 0 50
Design & Applied Arts 0 23 0 24 0 47
Health/Medical Prep Programs 0 0 36 9 0 45
Anthropology 0 29 0 13 0 42
Fine & Studio Arts 0 35 0 7 0 42
Communication & Media Studies 0 33 0 7 0 40
Area Studies 0 29 0 9 1 39
Publishing 0 0 0 38 0 38
Civil Engineering 0 22 0 12 3 37
Physiology & Pathology Sciences 0 28 0 7 0 35
Natural Resources Conservation 0 22 4 9 0 35
Sociology 0 30 0 3 0 33
Teaching English or French 0 0 31 0 0 31
Mathematics 0 25 0 4 2 31
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology 0 2 0 25 1 28
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics 0 0 0 23 5 28
Chemistry 0 23 0 3 2 28
Student Counseling 0 0 2 20 5 27
Computer Engineering 0 11 0 9 6 26
Real Estate 0 24 1 0 0 25
Curriculum & Instruction 0 0 8 14 3 25
Philosophy 0 19 0 5 0 24
Physics 0 8 0 11 4 23
Drama & Theater Arts 0 8 0 15 0 23
Neurobiology & Neurosciences 0 22 0 0 0 22
Entrepreneurial Studies 0 16 5 0 0 21
Teacher Education Subject Specific 0 0 0 19 0 19
Mental & Social Health Services 0 0 1 18 0 19
Other Education 0 0 0 18 0 18
Teacher Education Grade Specific 0 0 0 17 0 17
General Business/Commerce 0 16 0 0 0 16
Romance Languages 0 16 0 0 0 16
Health & Physical Education 0 0 0 16 0 16
Ethnic Studies 0 13 0 2 0 15
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 0 2 12 0 0 14
East Asian Languages 0 11 0 2 0 13
Writing Studies 0 12 0 0 0 12
Liberal Arts General Studies 12 0 0 0 0 12
Human Services 0 12 0 0 0 12
Data Processing 0 0 0 11 0 11
Religious Studies 0 6 0 5 0 11
Urban & Regional Planning 0 0 0 10 0 10
Microbiological Sciences & Immunology 0 0 0 8 1 9
Management Information Systems 0 0 9 0 0 9
Molecular Medicine 0 0 0 1 7 8
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies 0 8 0 0 0 8
Germanic Languages 0 7 0 0 0 7
Dance 0 7 0 0 0 7
Classical Languages & Literature 0 6 0 0 0 6
Peace Studies & Conflict Resolution 0 6 0 0 0 6
Archeology 0 6 0 0 0 6
Criminology 0 0 0 6 0 6
Instructional Media Design 0 0 5 0 0 5
Nutrition Science 0 5 0 0 0 5
Geological & Earth Sciences 0 5 0 0 0 5
Arts & Media Management 0 0 0 5 0 5
Slavic, Baltic & Albanian Languages 0 4 0 0 0 4
Astronomy & Astrophysics 0 4 0 0 0 4
Music 0 4 0 0 0 4
Middle Eastern Semitic Languages 0 3 0 0 0 3
Horticulture 0 0 1 0 0 1
Landscape Architecture 0 0 0 1 0 1
Genetics 0 0 0 0 1 1
General Engineering 0 1 0 0 0 1
Industrial Engineering 0 0 1 0 0 1
Medical Science 0 0 0 0 1 1
Other Health Professions 1 0 0 0 0 1
Real Estate Development 0 0 0 0 0 0
Biotechnology 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other Business, Management & Marketing 0 0 0 0 0 0
Business/Managerial Economics 0 0 0 0 0 0
Computer Systems Networking 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other Computer & Information Sciences 0 0 0 0 0 0
Educational Assessment 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other Engineering 0 0 0 0 0 0
Advanced Dentistry & Oral Sciences 0 0 0 0 0 0
International Studies 0 0 0 0 0 0
Science, Technology & Society 0 0 0 0 0 0
Sustainability Science 0 0 0 0 0 0
General Psychology 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other Social Sciences 0 0 0 0 0 0
Community Organization & Advocacy 0 0 0 0 0 0
General Visual & Performing Arts 0 0 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 214 3,453 691 4,756 911 10,025

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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