Georgetown Fast Facts
Founded in 1789 as the oldest Catholic University in the US
7,531 undergraduates across 4 schools
Students from all 50 states and 130 countries
11:1 Student to Faculty Ratio & 94% Graduation Rate
22 Varsity Teams, member of the D1 BIG EAST conference
What's a Hoya?
Contrary to popular perception, the word “Hoya” actually had nothing to do with classical Greek. It simply was the preferred college yell or cheer used by students at Georgetown (whose first teams were known as the Hilltoppers) in the early years of college athletics. In addition to the traditional “hurrahs,” “huzzah, huzzahs, “ and “hip, hip, hoorays” attached to a school’s name and its colors, spirited students would search to find their own rousing cry. On the Hilltop, it was simply “hoya, hoya, Georgetown.” The yell “Hoya Saxa” was first reported in a newspaper account of a Georgetown football game in 1894. Georgetown fans were described as “encouraging their athletes with their college yell of ’Hoya-hoya-saxa!’” By the end of the century, the cheer had become established as the Georgetown College yell. Like the cheer of rival school Virginia (“Wahoo-wah”), the Georgetown College yell evolved into the nickname for the teams themselves, who eventually became known far and wide as the Georgetown Hoyas.
1870: On May 10, 1870, the College Nine played Georgetown's first officially recorded game against an intercollegiate opponent, falling 23-17 to Columbian College.
1899: Hoya baseball team, led by pitching aces Guy Harris White ‘02, Edmund Bach ‘99, and Edward Kenna ’99, completes an undefeated season and is acclaimed intercollegiate national champion
1922: Hoya baseball team, led by pitching aces Art Reynolds ‘23 and Sam Hyman ‘24, reels off 25 consecutive wins and is acclaimed intercollegiate national champion
1984: Men’s Basketball wins University’s first NCAA national championship
1984: Steve Iannini ’85 leads the nation in batting average with a percentage of .470. He finished his career with the highest all-time four-year batting average in NCAA history.
2011: Women’s cross country team captures national championship
2019: Men’s soccer wins university’s third national championship
Academics Overview
- "World-class academics in the nations capital"
- #15 University in Forbes Ranking, #23 in U.S. News
- 7,513 undergraduate students
- Student to Faculty Ratio = 11:1
- 94% graduation rate, 96% retention rate
- 190,000 total alumni
- Students from over 130 countries and all 50 states
- Four Schools: McDonough School of Business, Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown College, and School of Nursing and Health Studies
- 92% job placement 2+ years after graduation
- Median salary 6 years after graduation = $93,500 vs. National Average = $33,028
- Top Employers for Class of 2020: Deloitte, EY, JP Morgan Chase, Citi, Teach for America, Bain & Company, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Capital One
