Georgetown University

Georgetown University maintains a selective admissions process alongside steady national prestige. In the 2027 U.S. News rankings, the university placed 23rd among national universities, having fluctuated between 20th and 24th over the past decade. Admissions remain rigorous, with an overall acceptance rate of 12.9% in 2025 for both men and women. When evaluated against similarly ranked private comprehensive universities, this acceptance rate is higher than 83% of peer institutions, indicating slightly broader access than the peer median. At the same time, Georgetown enrolled fewer than half of its accepted applicants, posting a yield rate of 46.7%. That yield rate is higher than 37% of peer schools in its comparison group. For prospective applicants, these metrics demonstrate that while gaining admission requires standing out among tens of thousands of rejected applicants, Georgetown also faces meaningful competition from other leading institutions when accepted candidates make their final enrollment decisions.

Georgetown University maintains a required standardized testing policy, meaning all applicants must submit official test scores. For the 2025 entering class, enrolled students posted middle-range ACT composite scores from 31 to 35, alongside strong SAT scores across both sections. Compared to similarly ranked private research universities, Georgetown's median SAT score of 1490 is higher than 14% of peer schools, reflecting competitive testing standards that nonetheless span a slightly broader range than some peer institutions. Most enrolled students submitted SAT scores, while nearly a third submitted ACT results in 2025. For international candidates, unofficial applicant cases collected by Forward Pathway show that admitted students earned a median unweighted GPA of 3.94. These metrics mean that successful candidates typically need near-perfect secondary school marks and standardized testing that comfortably meets Georgetown's testing requirements.

Academic degrees at Georgetown University are moderately concentrated, with the top three undergraduate programs accounting for 37.1% of all bachelor's degrees awarded in 2025. The university's signature strength lies in policy, global affairs, and commerce. The largest undergraduate major was International Relations and Affairs with 285 graduates, where international students made up 35.1% of the cohort, followed closely by Finance and Econometrics. These popular disciplines align directly with the school's top-tier national profile, including an undergraduate International Business program ranked 3rd by U.S. News in 2027, as well as graduate specialties in Legal Practice and International Law ranked 1st and 2nd respectively in 2026. Professional returns for these concentrations are substantial; according to 2023 earnings data, bachelor's degree recipients in Finance and Financial Management Services reported median first-year earnings of $126,622, leading all fields. For prospective students, Georgetown offers exceptional alignment between its most heavily enrolled disciplines, its top national program rankings, and favorable early career outcomes.

Georgetown University's student body is dominated numerically by graduate students, who comprise over sixty percent of all enrollees. Within the undergraduate first-year class in 2025, Asian students numbered 276, or 17.5%, while international freshmen formed 7.0% of the cohort. At the post-baccalaureate level, global representation is even more pronounced: international graduate students totaled 2,178, representing 17.9% of that division, alongside a domestic Asian student share of over eleven percent. White students constitute the largest single racial group across campus, accounting for nearly half of undergraduates and one-third of graduate students. These demographic proportions portray an academic community where Asian and international students maintain a substantial presence throughout, with international enrollment expanding considerably as students move from undergraduate to graduate studies.

The age profile at Georgetown University highlights a sharp division between undergraduate and post-graduate campus routines in 2025. The undergraduate population is centered on traditional college-age cohorts, with 43.3% of undergraduates aged 20 to 21 and 39.7% aged 18 to 19. This creates a campus life structured primarily around early-adulthood collegiate activities and residential undergraduate schedules. In contrast, the graduate student body reflects an older, career-focused population, led by students aged 25 to 29 at 37.6% and those aged 22 to 24 at 31.1%. Consequently, daily campus interactions balance the shared social and academic rhythms of traditional-age undergraduates alongside graduate scholars pursuing advanced professional training.

International student enrollment at Georgetown University has shown steady undergraduate expansion alongside a slight graduate decline. Between 2016 and 2025, the undergraduate international share climbed to 14.3%, placing Georgetown higher than 70% of similarly ranked private comprehensive universities. At the graduate level, international enrollment contracted modestly to 17.9% by 2025. Among graduates that year, international scholars concentrated heavily in specialized fields. At the undergraduate level, international students earned more than a third of degrees in International Relations and Affairs and Econometrics. In graduate studies, international concentration was highest in Advanced Legal Research and Studies, where foreign students represented 73.5% of master's degree recipients, as well as in quantitative research methodology. These distributions demonstrate that international scholars are especially attracted to Georgetown's premier legal, foreign affairs, and analytical curricula.

Families considering Georgetown University will find several prominent higher education options located within the surrounding metropolitan area. Just 1.5 kilometers away, George Washington University is a National University ranked 59th in 2027. Also within Washington, D.C., American University is a National University ranked 95th, situated 2.1 kilometers from Georgetown, while Howard University holds the 73rd rank among National Universities at a distance of 3.1 kilometers. Extending slightly into Maryland, University of Maryland-College Park offers a large public alternative, ranking 49th among National Universities and located 8.8 kilometers away. These nearby institutions provide students exploring the capital region with a diverse array of national universities across both private and public sectors within a very short distance of Georgetown.

Campus safety records for Georgetown University demonstrate a downward trend in reported incidents over the past decade. The university's crime rate per 1,000 students decreased from 7.5 in 2016 to 4.6 in 2025. Across the three-year period from 2023 to 2025, student conduct infractions accounted for the largest share of recorded activity. Disciplinary referrals for liquor law violations represented the single largest category, with 168 incidents across those three years. Property offenses were the next most frequent occurrence, comprising 72 theft reports during the same timeframe. Other infractions recorded over this span included stalking, sexual harassment, drug referrals, and rape in smaller numbers. These figures show that campus security issues at Georgetown are predominantly driven by alcohol-related disciplinary referrals and property thefts, while serious violent offenses remain relatively infrequent as the overall crime rate per student continues to decline.