Term | Start Date | End Date |
Fall 2024 | September 2024 | December 2024 |
Spring 2025 | January 2025 | May 2025 |
These dates are tentative. Confirm program dates before booking travel.
Eligibility
This program is open to students who will be at least first-semester sophomores. A minimum GPA of 2.75 is required to participate. Students from any major are encouraged to apply.
Where: Washington, DC
The semester program is designed with students’ professional needs in mind. At its core, this is an internship program, that creates the structure for undergraduate students to explore their career paths with individualized support from the William & Mary (W&M) Washington Center team. This is a flexible program, allowing students to focus on their specific career interests during a semester of their choosing. With students’ well-being and personal growth as central concerns of the program’s development, administrators work individually with students to find their path to career success, fulfillment and work-life balance.
Academics
Classes take place at the College of William & Mary’s Washington Center located in downtown Washington, D.C. Credit bearing internships are located throughout the D.C. region.
Academic Structure
In this small, cohort style program, students take two accelerated classes taught by William & Mary faculty members. Classes are taken alongside other undergraduate students, mostly from W&M, who are also spending their semester away in Washington DC. In addition, students complete a credit bearing internship.
Course Credit
Each accelerated course is worth three Allegheny credits. The internship and its accompanying course is worth 6 Allegheny credits. Therefore, students who complete the program can earn 12 Allegheny credits for each semester.
Courses
The two accelerated courses are structured to run for 7 weeks each, with one course taking place in the first half of the semester and the other in the second half. These courses rotate each semester and are taught by W&M faculty from various academic backgrounds and disciplines. Each class will expose students to a wide array of pressing issues, breakthroughs, and challenges and lead them in critical thought to create connections between course topics and change in the real world.
Students will also enroll in a hybrid Washington Program Internship Course to translate their internship experiences into focused learning opportunities so students may earn college credit for their hard work and professional growth. Unlike the accelerated courses, the internship and its accompanying course runs continuously throughout the entire semester and is tailored to the interests and needs of each cohort of students. Regardless of the subject, DCSP students and faculty embrace the Nation’s Capital as the scholarly context for their applied learning experiences and immerse themselves in W&M’s extensive network of alumnae, industry experts, and global leaders who call D.C. their home.
To see courses offered in previous semesters, visit the W&M website.
Housing & Student Life
Students have the option to live in W&M housing, which is in fully furnished apartments located in Mount Vernon Triangle in the heart of D.C. The building is safe and secure and boasts a fitness center and large common rooms. Students may also live at home, with friends or family, or secure other housing alternatives, as long as they are within the D.C. metropolitan area and are able to commute to class and internship sites.
Application Process
Allegheny students must apply for approval to study off-campus from the Global Education office AND apply directly to their chosen program. For this program, students should work on the Allegheny approval application at the same time as the host program application. The Allegheny approval application deadline is February 20 for fall programs and September 20 for spring programs. Study away approval applications will be reviewed immediately following the appropriate semester deadline. The separate application deadline to apply directly to this program will vary and could be before or after Allegheny’s approval application due date. Check directly on their website (linked at the top of this page) for deadline information. For more information about the study away application process, please visit the application steps page.
Fees & Costs
Below find information on estimated costs for a semester abroad. You will receive a bill from Allegheny College, as you normally would, for the amount shown under “Costs Paid to Allegheny College.” All other study away program costs will be paid directly to a non-Allegheny entity and are listed in part two below. These amounts are estimates and will vary depending on individual choices. A total estimated cost of attendance for this program is shown at the bottom.
All financial aid awards can be applied to study abroad costs with the exception of federal work-study awards and certain tuition exchange scholarships. For more information, visit our page about Financing Study Away.
Part One: Costs Paid to Allegheny College
Tuition (12 to 20 credits) Students do not pay tuition directly to W&M. Instead, students continue to pay tuition to Allegheny College. This covers tuition at W&M. |
$27,930 |
Study Away Fee | $800 |
SUBTOTAL Paid to Allegheny College | $28,730 |
Part Two: Costs Paid to non-Allegheny Entity
Housing – Paid directly to W&M; double room |
$6,000 |
Estimated Costs for Meals – Most students live in apartments and there is no meal plan. Students grocery shop and cook on their own. |
$1,500 |
Estimated Airfare | $400 |
Estimated Books and Academic Materials | $700 |
Estimated Local Transportation | $500 |
Estimated Personal Expenses Personal expenses include: the basic expenses for laundry, toiletries and other incidental expenses. It does not include an estimate for personal travel, entertainment or social outings. |
$250 |
SUBTOTAL Paid to NON-Allegheny entity | $9,350 |
TOTAL COST OF ATTENDANCE
Subtotal Part One: Fees paid to Allegheny College (in section 1. above) PLUS | $28,730 |
Subtotal Part Two: Fees paid to non-Allegheny entity (in section 2. above) | $9,350 |
TOTAL COST OF ATTENDANCE | $38,080 *** |
***Compare this to the cost of a semester at Allegheny in Meadville: $37,299. |
NOTES:
Study Away Fee includes: administrative support, transcript translation and processing, pre-departure orientation.