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Why The Washington Center?

Background Academic Quality The Washington Center Advantage

Background

The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars is an independent, nonprofit educational organization that enables students to earn college credit for full-time Washington, D.C.-based internships and short-term academic seminars. It is the nation's largest provider of for-credit internships. Since its founding in 1975 by William and Sheila Burke of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, The Washington Center has provided more than 33,000 students, in majors ranging from art to zoology, with professional career experiences and course work.

Students are placed, according to their interests, in substantive, supervised internships in governmental, international, for-profit or nonprofit organizations. They also participate in one of a dozen thematically-organized programs (for example, the Congressional Leadership Program, the Science and Policy Program, or the Advocacy, Service and Arts Program); they take an academic course, chosen from among 25 to 35 offered; and they attend and take part in a range of events including the Presidential Lecture Series, Congressional Speaker Series, Embassy Visit Program, briefings, tours, workshops and other activities.

In addition to its semester- or term-long internship program, The Washington Center offers a variety of week-long academic seminars in January that provide students with exposure to national and world issues through interaction with policy-makers and leaders in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. Once every four years special academic seminars are also offered on-site at both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions.

The Washington Center offers cost-effective, quality educational services designed to complement the experiential programs of higher education institutions. More than 1,000 colleges and universities, large and small, public and private, have taken advantage of these services. Through The Washington Center, those colleges and universities have been able to expand the curricular options available to their students. By maintaining a full-time professional staff, The Washington Center is able to provide students with services customarily available on their campus as well as educational experiences that utilize the wealth of resources in the nation's capital.

Funding is derived primarily from program and housing fees paid by institutions or the students. Revenues from grants, contracts and contributions are used for student scholarships, special events, and new program development. Approximately $4 million was provided for student financial assistance in 2005. On average, about 85% of Washington Center students receive some degree of financial assistance.

Business offices are located at 1333 16th Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20036. Student housing facilities are located in professional-style apartment buildings in suburban Maryland and the Arlington and Alexandria areas of Northern Virginia.

Academic Quality

The Washington Center’s reputation for quality is built on 30 years of service to more than 1,000 institutions of higher education. We recognize that institutions awarding academic credit for student participation in our programs expect at a minimum the same level of quality that is offered to their students on campus. Our associate faculty members typically combine terminal degrees and college teaching experience with distinguished careers as practitioners and a passion for teaching. Profiles of our course instructors are available in the Course Guide. Our program advisors, all dedicated professionals with advanced degrees, provide professional and academic work tailored to each student's goals and abilities. Students complete an extensive academic portfolio that documents, analyzes and reflects upon their learning. Students have an unusually ambitious and challenging peer group at TWC, with an average grade point average of over 3.3.

One of the strongest assurances of The Washington Center's academic quality is the continuing, active involvement of advisory groups from the institutions it serves. The National Liaison Advisory Board composed of faculty and administrators from participating colleges and universities across the country meets twice a year to review TWC's work and advise on a wide range of matters. Each of the programs also has an Academic Advisory Committee composed of faculty in related disciplines. These groups, which total several hundred members, also meet twice yearly and help to ensure that the academic programs at TWC reflect the best thinking and practice of those teaching and conducting research in their respective fields. Institutions regularly grant full credit for the experience we provide.

The Washington Center Advantage

There are numerous reasons The Washington Cente r has become the nation's leading provider of for-credit internships. In the interest of brevity a bulleted summary follows of some advantages we provide.

a 30-year record of, and national recognition for, providing quality experiential education programs
an alumni base of over 33,000
a distinguished, diverse, and engaged board of directors
distinguished academic and liaison advisory boards that review the standards of Washington Center programming
a strong staff of sixty dedicated professionals
a comprehensive institutional relations program with over 850 college and universities nationwide and abroad
a successful record of outreach to diverse groups and individuals
financial assistance from a wide variety of states, corporations, foundations, placement agencies and personal contributors, providing over $4 million in financial assistance awards yearly
internships available to all students at participating institutions, regardless of major
credit awarded through the student's home institution, not by a third party or institution
no need for student to enroll in a potentially competing institution
students' eligibility for financial aid and other considerations such as election to honor societies and leadership awards unaffected
some or all of tuition income retained by home institution
control of academic criteria and grading retained by home institution
supervised housing guaranteed for all Washington Center program participants
opportunities for institutional advancement efforts tied to civic engagement, public service and other institutional priorities or programs served through affiliation
reputation as an "honors" internship program
provision of a strong peer group for students (the mean grade point average of participants exceeds 3.3)
contact with over 4,000 potential placement sites annually
supervised internships that provide substantive, responsible assignments and that are tailored to students' individual interests; these are full-time "first -professional"
experiences of the type students increasingly seek.
a professional staff of program managerswith graduate degrees qualified to teach and evaluate interns
academic requirements for admission that include a comprehensive application and essays for careful consideration and placement
special attention to early-deadline requests fo r highly competitive placements including those that require security clearances
a 25:1 student-to-program manager ratio and a 15:1 student-to-faculty ratio
over 25 academic course offerings, taught by appropriately qualified faculty, from which students choose a required internship class
The Washington Forum consisting of the Presidential Lecture Series, Congressional Speakers Series, Embassy Visit Program, and small group activities-which complement the internship and academic course
a portfolio system of learning that provides documentation and analysis of the student's experience and that can be customized to suit campus requirements; comprehensive midterm and final evaluations also provided
short-term academic seminars that focus on contemporary issues and leadership (e.g., Camp David III, Inside Washington '06) that introduce students to prominent national leaders
secure, convenient, professional-style housing with easy access to shopping and Washington's Metro subway system
furnished apartments with fully-equipped kitchens, cable television, and other amenities in each housing facility
full-time student services professionals and a resident assistant staff with regular duty and on-call service hours
association with a geographically diverse group from both public and private institutions from the U.S., and international students from Canada, Mexico and other parts of the world
regularly scheduled social and cultural activities organized by student services staff