Which is better for internship opportunities: George Washington University or University of Maryland?

For internship access during the school year, George Washington usually has the clearer edge. Its campus is in downtown Washington, D.C., so students can get to federal agencies, nonprofits, think tanks, media offices, hospitals, and consulting firms without a long commute. GW also builds a lot of its identity around D.C. connections, and that tends to make part-time internships during the semester more realistic.

GW makes the most sense for a student who wants internships woven into everyday college life. If you can picture yourself taking the Metro or even walking to an office a few days a week, especially in politics, international affairs, public policy, journalism, public health, or government-adjacent work, GW gives you a very practical advantage. Being in Foggy Bottom matters because employers are nearby enough for students to fit internships around classes instead of saving everything for summer.

Maryland can still be excellent, but it fits a somewhat different student. UMD is stronger if you want a big public research university environment with lots of campus resources and access to D.C. opportunities without needing your whole college experience centered in the city. Students absolutely do intern in D.C. during the year, especially in government, policy, business, and tech, but it usually takes more planning because College Park is not as immediately embedded in downtown internship life as GW is.

UMD is especially appealing for students who care about fields where the school’s scale and research ecosystem help a lot, such as engineering, computer science, business, and some STEM areas. For those students, internship opportunities may come not only from D.C. but also from Maryland’s broader employer network, research labs, and regional companies. In that sense, Maryland can be just as strong by summer and in some industries even stronger, but it is less effortless for semester-long city internships.

So if your top priority is having lots of realistic in-semester internship options close by, GW stands out more. If you want strong internship outcomes but in the context of a larger campus and opportunities that may extend beyond downtown D.C., Maryland has real advantages.