Academic Overview

Georgetown is an urban university, located only a few miles from the center of the federal government. Its 104-acre campus is perched on a hilltop overlooking the Potomac River and Washington, DC. Founded in 1789, Georgetown is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit institution of higher learning in the United States.

Georgetown University has always had an international flavor. One of the oldest universities in the United States, since the turn of the century, Georgetown has provided students with an internationally-oriented liberal arts education and a sense of commitment to the international community. Today, its 12,000 students come from all 50 states and over 100 foreign countries. Georgetown's five undergraduate schools, four graduate and professional schools, and school for summer and continuing education are among the most competitive in the country and have earned the University a reputation for excellence throughout the world. The Graduate School was founded in 1820 and enrolls almost 2,000 students, including candidates for masters and doctoral degrees as well as non-degree students.

Georgetown University is a unique location for international study. The University's commitment to the international community, the international context in which it operates, plus the excellent reputation that Georgetown has developed for its fine faculty and the high quality of its student body, have all moved the University closer to its ultimate goal of creating a graduate international and regional affairs programs that set the standard in the United States and around the world.

Washington, D.C. provides incomparable resources for a dynamic program in Latin American Studies. The presence of a host of leading international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); private non-profit organizations such as the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Washington Office on Latin America; U.S. government agencies and organizations; representatives of business and the private sector; and embassies and agencies of foreign governments provide opportunities and challenges for a university-based area studies program.

Georgetown's Center for Latin American Studies is one of six graduate study centers and programs administered by the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, the nation's oldest and largest institution of its kind. The academic programs available through the Center for Latin American Studies seek to prepare talented undergraduate and graduate students for careers in academia and the public and private sectors. CLAS draws on and contributes to the educational programs of Georgetown's College of Arts and Sciences, Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, School of Business Administration, and Graduate School.

CLAS is a Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center. This designation provides funds to strengthen the center as a national resource for the teaching of modern foreign languages, area and international studies, as well as issues in world affairs.

If you would like to speak with someone regarding any of CLAS' academic programs, please contact clas@georgetown.edu.