Washington, D.C.: Education and Research

Elementary and Secondary Schools

The District of Columbia's public school system is among the largest in the country, serving approximately 68,000 students at 167 schools. A 2003 Newsweek study ranked three D.C. high schools—Banneker, Wilson, and School Without Walls—among the nation's finest. Besides Head Start, Magnet Schools, and Alternative Education programs, the district offers a range of special programs to meet the needs of a diverse student body, including a youth orchestra, boys choir, substance abuse prevention education, and English-as-a-Second-Language program.

The following is a summary of data regarding Washington D.C.'s public schools as of the 2002–2003 school year.

Total enrollment: 67,522

Number of facilities elementary schools: 101

junior high/middle schools: 9

senior high schools: 20

other: 6 educational centers; 20 special schools

Student/teacher ratio: 13.5: 1

Teacher salaries average: $53,194

Funding per pupil: $6,903

Dozens of private and parochial schools also operate in the district with varied curriculums. More than 60 major private schools, including several of national renown, operate as traditional, parochial, and alternative/arts schools.

Public Schools Information: Washington-District of Columbia Schools District, 415 Twelfth Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20004

Colleges and Universities

Washington, D.C. is home to 12 universities and colleges. Georgetown University has the largest school of international affairs in the world and the second largest law school in the United States. Howard University, the alma mater of many prominent African Americans, enrolls the most foreign students in the country. Nearby in Baltimore, the Johns Hopkins University is the nation's oldest research university. Other major institutions are American, Catholic, Gallaudet, George Washington, Corcoran College of Art and Design, Mount Vernon and Trinity colleges, and University of the District of Columbia. More than 20 licensed trade and technical schools also operate in the district, including the American College of Computer and Information Sciences, the ITT Technical Institute, Kennedy-Western University, and the Harrison Center for Career Education.

Libraries and Research Centers

The Library of Congress is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress. It is also the largest library in the world, with nearly 128 million items on approximately 530 miles of bookshelves. The collections include more than 29 million books and other printed materials, 2.7 million recordings, 12 million photographs, 4.8 million maps, and 57 million manuscripts. In December 2002, the U.S. Congress approved the Library's plan for a national digital information infrastructure and a program to preserve digital archives, a long-term project that will be a model for national programs seeking to organize the massive amounts of digital publishing taking place on the internet.

The District of Columbia Public Library system has 27 branches, the Martin Luther King Memorial Library, 1 kiosk, and a total of more than 2.4 million volumes. In 2004 four branch libraries were closed for major renovations. Among the several special collections is Washingtoniana, which specializes in local history and celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2005. In addition to public libraries, there are nearly 600 special libraries in the district, including those maintained by foreign embassies, colleges and universities, and the Smithsonian Institution.

Public Library Information: District of Columbia Public Library, Martin Luther King Memorial Library, 901 G Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20001; telephone (202)727-0321; Library of Congress, telephone (202)707-5000