Marymount University

Marymount University is a private Roman Catholic institution in Arlington, Virginia.

Previously a women’s college whose students would take two-year courses, it is now a coeducational institution offering four-year degrees. Men were first enrolled in 1972, and postgraduate courses were made available in 1979. Known by its current name since 1986, the year it became fully coeducational, Marymount is open to students from all faiths and none.

Its leafy campus is in tranquil surroundings just five miles from Washington D.C., the national capital, the other side of the Potomac River. Among other things, D.C. is home to the White House, the National Archives, the 28 museums and research centres of the Smithsonian Institution, and several notable memorials, most famously Thomas Jefferson’s, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s, Martin Luther King’s and Abraham Lincoln’s, which overlooks a famous reflecting pool.

Arlington is home to several government departments and agencies and the National Cemetery, where John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy are buried, as are hundreds of thousands of Vietnam, Korea or Civil War soldiers. As well as three campuses in Arlington, Marymount has a fourth in Reston, 15 miles north west, for liberal arts and business administration programmes.

Academic study at Marymount is divided into four schools, covering Arts and Sciences, Health, Education and Business Administration. All undergraduate students undertake an internship as part of their course. International students account for around 10% of the student body, coming from more than 65 countries in total. Marymount’s first doctoral course in 2005 was in physical therapy, with a nursing practical doctorate commencing in 2009.