Quick Facts
Founded in 1782 under the patronage of George Washington, Washington College was the first college chartered in the new nation. Today it ranks among the nation's top 100 selective liberal arts colleges.
Chesapeake Region
Maryland's Eastern Shore is a tidal peninsula rich in history, traditions and natural assets, making it an attractive educational resource for exploration and integration of liberal arts studies.
The Delmarva peninsula remains one of the nation's most unspoiled areas, as well as an unusual learning laboratory. Its natural habitat is ideal for the study of archaeology, anthropology, environmental science, estuarine studies, American history, environmental economics, marine biology, land use management, nature writing, and so much more.
Our Centers of Excellence enable students to explore the area's historical, cultural and natural resources:
Students
- Approximately 1,200 undergraduates from 35 states and 40 nations attend WC. Slightly more than half are from public schools, 7 percent are minority students; 3 percent are international.
- Our student-to-faculty ratio is 12-to-1. The average class size is 17 students; only 1 in 7 classes has more than 25 students.
- Of the most recent entering class, 60 percent took Advanced Placement coursework, 57 percent played a varsity sport, 43 percent were members of the National Honor Society, 33 percent had a music background, and 31 percent held a leadership position during their high school careers.
Experiential Learning
- More than 50 students participate each year in the College's National Model UN and Model African Union programs.
- The Douglass Cater Society of Junior Fellows provides nearly $100,000 annually in grants of $500 to $3,000 to support student-designed projects and research activities.
- The Sophie Kerr Prize, which recognizes the literary promise of a graduating senior, is the largest undergraduate prize in America. The 2007 winner received a check for $60,000.
- The College's C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience sponsors the annual George Washington Book Prize, a nationally prominent award for the year's best work on early American History.
- We offer more than 40 study abroad programs, more than any other private college in Maryland.
Our Location
- Our rural, 120-acre campus is in a residential community on Maryland's Eastern Shore, about 90 minutes from Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington, DC.