In our Catholic University series, we explored what makes the university itself distinctive. Now we turn to the city—because studying in Washington, D.C. isn’t just a backdrop, it’s a competitive advantage that students carry with them for the rest of their careers.
We asked Mark Ciolli, Vice President for Enrollment Management, to make the case for D.C. as a destination.
Beyond Government: The Real Economic Story
Most people’s first instinct when they hear “Washington, D.C.” is to think politics. Mark pushes back on that immediately:
Washington, D.C. metropolitan area is one of the most economically important areas in the United States and the world. While it’s true the seat of government is in D.C., it attracts Fortune 500 corporations to have a presence here—in a place that has a highly educated population.
The scale of this educated workforce is staggering:
Washington, D.C. has the highest educated population in the entire world, most likely. That means there are resources for employers that they can’t get anywhere else.
Northern Virginia: The Data Center Capital of Earth
One of the most overlooked facts about the D.C. region is what’s happening just across the Potomac:
Northern Virginia has more data centers than any other place on Earth. Precisely because of the economic power of the region and the forward-thinking nature of the businesses that make their home here.
For students in engineering, computer science, data analytics, and cybersecurity, this is the single most important sentence in this article. The infrastructure of the modern internet largely runs through this region—and companies need people to build, manage, and secure it.
Internships: Year-Round, Not Just Summer
This is the detail that separates D.C. from almost every other college market in the country:
The advantage of coming to a place like Washington, D.C. is that internships are available year-round rather than only in the summer. A lot of students who don’t go to school in a big city have to compete for internships during a small summer window. Students at Catholic go to internships year-round. In fact, if you commute on the subway as an employee of Catholic, you see students in the morning often going the opposite direction on a Wednesday or Thursday because they’re going to their internship.
And the supply side is extraordinary:
There are more internships and opportunities available than we actually have students to place them in.
Research Partnerships That Matter
Catholic’s location also puts it in orbit of some of the most significant research institutions in the world:
As a university with a high level of research activity, we have partnerships with NASA, with the National Institute of Health, with Goddard Space Flight Center. They look to us for expertise, for innovation, and for smart students who want to do good work in a variety of fields.
Industry on Campus—Literally
Mark gave a concrete example of how D.C.’s industry presence shows up directly for students:
Take our accounting program in the business school. The Big Four accounting firms are constantly on our campus recruiting our students.
And in engineering:
Hamilton is a partner with us in one of our engineering programs and basically helps set the curriculum for our students. A lot of the major construction companies partner with the engineering school for talent.
The International Student Advantage
For international students specifically, the D.C. location offers something that goes beyond career opportunity:
It’s a hub of history and really the American experience. It’s a fantastic city to go to college in. And the cuisine, DC Boasts a very diverse international food sceen—which is not unimportant for our international students who often travel far away from home and look for the comforts of home in the city.
The city’s extraordinary diversity means students from every corner of the world find community, familiar food, and cultural touchstones—all while being minutes from the center of American power.
The Numbers Behind the Opportunity
Key facts about the D.C. metropolitan job market for students to know:
- More Fortune 500 company offices per square mile than nearly any U.S. metro
- More internship openings than Catholic has students to fill them
- Year-round recruiting—not limited to summer windows
- Northern Virginia: the global epicenter of data center infrastructure
- The world’s highest-educated workforce, creating premium career entry points
- Federal agencies, defense contractors, NGOs, law firms, think tanks, and tech companies—all within metro distance
“One of the Hubs of the Universe”
Mark’s framing is simple, and it holds up:
Much like New York, Boston, San Francisco, L.A.—Washington, D.C. is one of the premier destinations for a student to study in college.
For students who want to graduate with real work experience, a professional network, and clarity about their career—not just a degree—there may be no better place in the United States to spend four years (or two).