George Washington vs. Fordham for internships: which has better opportunities and access?

For internships, George Washington usually has the clearer built-in advantage during the school year. Its campus is in downtown Washington, DC, and students are unusually close to federal agencies, nonprofits, think tanks, advocacy groups, media outlets, and international organizations, which makes part-time internships during the semester especially realistic. GW also leans into that location academically, so internships are often treated as a normal part of student life rather than something students only do in the summer.

GW tends to fit the student who wants internships tightly woven into the week. If you are interested in politics, public policy, international affairs, public health, journalism, law, or government-adjacent work, DC gives you a very concentrated market. The practical advantage is not just that opportunities exist, but that many are close enough to campus that students can get there without turning the internship into a major commute.

Fordham makes more sense for the student whose interests align with New York’s broader private-sector economy. Being in New York opens doors in finance, business, marketing, communications, media, fashion, publishing, and many corporate roles. Fordham students can absolutely build strong internship experience, especially through the Lincoln Center campus, but access can feel a little more self-directed because New York is larger, more spread out, and less centered on one dominant internship ecosystem than DC is for policy and government work.

Fordham is appealing for someone who wants variety and is comfortable navigating a huge city to create opportunities. New York offers an enormous number of internships, including during the academic year, but students often need to be more proactive about logistics, networking, and targeting the right neighborhoods and industries. In return, you get exposure to a wider mix of industries than GW typically offers.

On school support, both universities have career services and alumni networks, but GW’s reputation for connecting academics with internships is especially strong because of where it sits and the kinds of fields it feeds into. Fordham’s support is solid, especially in business-related paths, but the biggest distinction here is still location plus industry mix.