The 2020 Academic Year at the GW School of Business
Following additional changes announced recently by the university, all GW School of Business (GWSB) programs will be offered online for the 2020 academic year.
Cohort programs previously planned to be held on-campus will now move to an online format. Furthermore, the university has paused planned annual tuition increases for graduate programs for the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters (additional details below). Our School of Business plan has been updated to reflect the latest policies. Detailed below are current plans and learning modes for both undergraduate and graduate students. Within the School of Business, we remain flexible and we will notify students if any of these plans change.
International Students
All international students not currently in the U.S. who wish to be on campus during the Fall 2020, Spring 2021 or Summer 2021 semesters should contact GW School of Business international student advisors for the latest information and guidance by emailing [email protected].
Undergraduate Programs
Online Remote Mode
All GWSB undergraduate courses will be offered entirely online for the Fall 2020, Spring 2021 and Summer 2021 semesters. These courses will meet in Blackboard at their regularly scheduled class time. All class meetings will be recorded.
Graduate Programs
Online Remote Mode with Synchronous Sessions
All GWSB graduate degree and certificate programs will be offered entirely online for the Fall 2020, Spring 2021 and Summer 2021 semesters.
- Some course content will be delivered via multimedia asynchronous content: videos, podcasts, simulation games, discussion boards, and other online readings and exercises.
- Students will meet in groups with their faculty during synchronous sessions.
- Faculty will offer online office hours.
Students in cohort programs (first-year GMBA and first-year AMBA; all MSAF, MSBA, and MSF) will receive a schedule of synchronous session meeting times from their faculty director. All other students will join their synchronous sessions during the regularly scheduled class period.
Students will interact with the course material, their instructor and fellow students through Blackboard.
- Synchronous sessions will meet for most courses via Blackboard Collaborate Ultra.
- Students will receive information from their professors about how to join the synchronous session meetings.
Students will continue to interact with their academic advisors and career counselors via online personal appointments.
Frequently Asked Questions
No; per the current guidance in place, you can enroll in online coursework.
Yes! All online courses are designed to allow students to participate in coursework even if they are not in the United States, this includes students who are enrolling in GWSB courses from abroad.
Students beginning their programs in the fall should contact their academic advisor and their professors if they intend to enroll in courses from abroad.
Visas are only required for international students participating in GW programs in the United States. If you plan to enroll in online courses from abroad, you will not need a visa.
An F student accrues eligibility for practical training whether they are inside or outside of the U.S. during the COVID-19 emergency if the student is in Active status in SEVIS.
We will offer at least one on-campus course for all incoming graduate international students this fall to ensure student visa compliance with DHS regulations. More information will be sent to students by their academic advisors shortly.
GW will be operating online throughout the fall 2020 semester. The university has not made a decision yet about the spring semester.
All undergraduate and graduate students will interact with their academic advisors, career counselors and student associations virtually in the fall.
Student organizations will also be hosting their own events and projects online. Students will learn more about these opportunities through weekly student engagement newsletters as well as from student organization leaders directly.
Graduate Programs will continue to offer a robust student engagement program with all events online, including: Alumni Meet and Greets, Industry Roundtables, Online Happy Hours and other events that will be open to all graduate students. We will also be hosting several program-specific student engagement events to build community within programs.
Students will receive more information about these exciting events through our weekly Graduate Student newsletter as well as via email from your Program Managers/Faculty Directors.
GWSB is fortunate to have an in-house instructional design team and studio to support our faculty as they develop these new and innovative courses. You can learn more about our instructional design team and what they do in this March 2019 video. This team is hosting weekly workshops and a conference this summer for faculty as well as offering one-on-one consulting appointments with them.
The GWSB Office of Information Technology provides the following minimum requirements and recommendations that should be sufficient for classroom and homework purposes.
Minimum Requirements for a Laptop or Desktop Computer
- i5 processor (i7 is recommended for more demanding applications)
- 8GB RAM memory (16GB is recommended for more demanding applications)
- 256GB SSD hard drive
Recommendations
We recommend Dell devices for Windows, and MacBook Air or MacBook Pro devices for MacOS. Dell is the preferred vendor for the entire GW university due to on-campus support via Tech Commons.
Please be advised that many applications (especially statistical or business applications) do not have a MacOS version; for example, MS Project or SAS. GWSB students are eligible to run some of the Windows-only applications via the GWSB Virtual Lab on their Apple computers. However, students enrolled in programs or classes that frequently use Windows-only applications are advised to purchase Dell computers instead of Apple.
Undergraduate Students
The university has announced a 10 percent tuition reduction for GWSB undergraduate students that do not live on campus. If a student is given a housing assignment, the tuition reduction will be removed.
View the update here. For more information, view the FAQ here.
Graduate Students
Additionally, the university has paused planned annual tuition increases for graduate programs for the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters, enrollment fees remain unchanged.
Second-year Global MBA cohort tuition pricing will remain unchanged as planned.
MBA students beginning our newly restructured and revised program this fall will receive five percent off their tuition for this academic year. Updated cohort pricing will be available on the student accounts website shortly.
View the update here. For more information, view the FAQ here.
The university is currently working on a plan to ensure the tuition discounts are passed on to students and will share additional guidance with students shortly.