Where to Start Looking to Find a College in Washington DC
The Reach4Success website is a program that originated with the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area. The website provides information on the College Information Center where students and families can get help completing admission and financial aid applications. The website has a calendar that lists college admissions related events. The resources section provides useful links to other websites rather than provide its own information.
The District of Columbia College Access Program (DC-CAP) provides resources to public high school students including counseling, scholarships, and advisor support through college. Students can contact DC-CAP advisors in their local high school.
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District of Columbia residents should visit the Office of the State Superintendent of Education for information on Higher Education Financial Services. The District of Columbia’s Tuition Assistance Grant (DCTAG) provides up to $10,000 toward the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition at public four-year colleges and universities throughout the US.
College Goal Sunday in DC is run through the YMCA. You can find more information at College Goal DC.
Some Numbers to Help You Find a College
There are eight four-year institutions with 500 or more full-time undergraduates in the District of Columbia according to the Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System. Approximately 94 percent of students attend one of the seven private colleges while six percent of students attend the one public institution.
The private colleges have an average four-year graduation rate of 54.4% and the public university has an average five-year graduation rate of six percent. One school meets the DIY College Rankings 50-50 profile requirements.
The average SAT score for college-bound seniors in the District of Columbia was 466 for Critical Reading and 460 for Math. The 75th percentile scores were 570 for Critical Reading and 570 for Math. Of the schools that reported SAT scores, five colleges had 75th percentile scores equal to or higher than the state in both categories.
The top 20 colleges SAT test takers in Washington DC applied to:
- University of Maryland College Park
- University of Virginia
- Pennsylvania State University
- University of Michigan Ann Arbor
- Georgetown University
- Delaware State University
- University of Pennsylvania
- Columbia University
- George Mason University
- St Johns University Jamaica
- North Carolina Agricultural Tech State U
- Howard University
- Virginia Commonwealth University
- New York University
- Harvard Undergraduate Admissions
- Virginia State University
- Boston College
- Morgan State University
- Towson University
- Fordham University
List of Colleges in Washington DC
In the following table, the four-year graduation rate is used for private colleges and the five-year rate for public colleges. The data are based on the data available from IPEDS in the fall of 2012 which are available on the DIY College Search spreadsheet.
Under-
graduates
Grad
Rate
Admitted
75th%
Math
75th%
75th%
Price
American University Private 6941 75 42 700 700 30 31447
Catholic University of America Private 3397 60 87 610 610 27 34724
Gallaudet University Private 1029 8 69 465 465 21 10449
George Washington University Private 9748 75 32 690 690 31 27793
Georgetown University Private 7283 89 20 750 750 33 26521
Howard University Private 6713 48 54 580 580 25 16771
Trinity Washington University Private 1152 26 51 15276
University of the District of Columbia Public 2311 6 16084
