A highly regarded school in the nation’s capital, George Washington University lives up to its Washington. D.C., George Washington University diploma, location with graduation at the National Mall and a score of political leaders among its alumni. Fitting given its Capitol ties, GW boasts an elite international-affairs program as well as a study-abroad participation rate hovering around 50%, and students go everywhere from China to Korea.

GW is among the priciest institutions in the country, with an average estimated total expense of more than $70,000. Although the university employs a fixed-tuition policy, guaranteeing that students’ tuition will not change from their first semester for up to five years. Only a few blocks from the White House, GW’s campus sits in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Washington. And students can expect to rub elbows with a host of political figures while at university, or even intern for them.

GW counts a host of current and former world leaders among its former students. Including Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, former prime minister of Pakistan, Harry Reid, former majority and minority leader of the Senate, and Elizabeth Warren, senator from Massachusetts.

George Washington was the backdrop to several momentous events in 20th-century history, novelty US diploma. In 1939, a conference on campus revealed that Otto Hahn had successfully split the atom; while in 1981, the university hospital treated Ronald Reagan after an attempted assassination.

But the university is not just about politics. George Washington boasts a thriving arts scene, with several student dance groups, improvisation and theatre clubs, art galleries, as well as instrumental and voice ensembles.

The university’s Lisner Auditorium has hosted appearances ranging from Betty White and Al Gore to Salman Rushdie. It has a wide range of fine art, music, theatre and dance scholarships on offer to freshmen.