The Columbian College of Arts and Sciences (CCAS) is the George Washington University's liberal arts and sciences college. The Columbian College bears the original name of the George Washington University when it was chartered by the United States Congress in 1821. It is the largest school at George Washington, with around 5,000 undergraduate students and 2,500 graduate students, and 42 academic departments, representing the majority of the University's instructional, scholarly and research activity.
History
The Columbian College of Arts and Sciences is the original college of the George Washington University and one of the oldest colleges in the United States. Founded as the Columbian College on February 9, 1821 by an act of Congress, the college was created as a Baptist institution by Reverend Luther Rice. Originally, the college consisted of two departments: the Theological Department and Classical Department, with individual professors covering other subjects such as mathematics and anatomy.
The college's first class graduated in 1824, where the president presented each of the three graduates with their degree in the presence of the Marquis de Lafayette and college president William Staughton.
With the dawn of the Civil War in 1861, the majority of the students left the college to fight for the Confederacy.
The Columbian College contains many research centers and institutes, including the Biostatistics Center.
Schools
The Columbian College of Arts and Sciences houses 42 academic departments. The Columbian College is also home to three distinct schools:
- School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA)
- Corcoran School of the Arts and Design
- Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration (SPPPA)
Undergraduate programs
Columbian College was founded in 1821 and awarded its first bachelor's degree in 1824. Today, the Columbian College offers the following baccalaureate degrees (either Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science):
Graduate programs
Ten years after the Columbian College was chartered, the college conferred its first Master of Arts degree in 1831. Columbian College was also one of the first institutions in the United States to award a doctorate, as it did with a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1888. However, the graduate program was formally established in 1905.
Notes
External links
- Official website
