George Washington University marked the official opening of its Arlington Education Center on Oct. 13, providing a new Virginia location to serve the needs of students in a wide range of professional programs. Provost Steven Lerman and College of Professional Studies Dean Kathleen Burke welcomed students, staff, community members and local government officials to the Arlington Education Center, located at 950 N. Glebe Road, three blocks from the Ballston Metro station.
“A lot of GW’s teaching happens in places like this,” Dr. Lerman said. “This sort of place and these sorts of programs are what are needed in our economy. We have more adult learners, and people need to retool and re-skill to meet the job opportunities that are available. And we’re very proud to be doing it.”
The new Arlington location joins GW’s other Virginia educational sites in Alexandria, Ashburn, and Newport News. Dr. Burke said that the university is thrilled to have opened an education center in the heart of Arlington’s Ballston neighborhood.
“We’re right in the middle of what is rapidly becoming known as the education corridor of Arlington County,” she said. “This designation speaks very well of Arlington County and the state of Virginia. It indicates a willingness to invest in people and human capital, and to create sustainable communities where education is accessible for everyone.”
Classes began at the new education center during the summer semester. Twenty-one programs are offered at the Arlington site, including graduate certificates in climate change management and policy, sustainable landscapes and applied quantitative risk management, and master’s degree programs in systems engineering and high-technology crime investigation. Two undergraduate programs—police science and a bachelor’s degree completion program—are also offered at the site.
Arlington County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman said that he is pleased and excited to have GW as a member of the Arlington County family. He said that accessible urban centers like Ballston are part of a new type of development that is generating a great deal of interest. But Ballston’s expansion is not simply growth for growth’s sake, he said—it’s becoming an important center of research, technology and higher learning.
“What’s more important than the buildings is what goes on inside and among them,” Mr. Zimmerman said. “This is a great place to be for George Washington University, but you will also contribute to something that is so much bigger. And we are very excited in Arlington County to be partners with you.”