The New International Encyclopædia/Georgetown University

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY. An institution of higher education, situated at Georgetown, D. C. It was founded in 1799 by members of the Roman Catholic Church, and was in 1805 transferred to the Society of Jesus in Maryland, in whose control it remains. By a Congressional act of 1815 the university was empowered to grant academic degrees, and in 1833 the Holy See authorized it to confer degrees in the name of the Church, in philosophy and theology. The university consists of the college, the school of medicine, organized in 1851. and including a school of dentistry, and the school of law, organized in 1870. The college comprises the graduate school, organized in 1856; the undergraduate department; and the astronomical observatory, established in 1842. A preparatory school, with a student enrollment of about 150, is also connected with the university. The scheme of instruction is, in general, conducted in accordance with the famous Ratio Studiorum (q.v.) of the Jesuits; the supervision of students is closer than in most denominational colleges of equal standing, and the standard of scholarship is very high, especially in Latin, philosophy, logic, and English. The elective system has not been introduced. Degrees are conferred in arts, philosophy, medicine, dentistry, and law.