McCourt School and Howard University Sign a Memorandum of Understanding, Launch Scholar Program

Georgetown University, the university’s McCourt School of Public Policy, and Howard University have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, formalizing their commitment to collaborate, including the launch of a scholarship program between the McCourt School and Howard.

“We are excited to expand our relationship with the excellent students, scholars, and alumni of Howard University,” said Robert Groves, the provost of Georgetown University. “This partnership creates an additional vehicle for collaboration between two world-class faculties, and deepens the ties between the Georgetown and Howard communities.”

Georgetown and Howard agreed to explore potential collaborations related to students, faculty, and other events and activities.

“This agreement deepens the relationship between Howard and Georgetown, two preeminent institutions committed to service and scholarship in the name of improving our local and global communities,” said Anthony K. Wutoh, Howard University’s provost and chief academic officer.

The Howard Scholar at McCourt

The creation of the Howard Scholar at McCourt program , a full-tuition scholarship for a Howard student or alumnus to one of the McCourt School’s graduate programs, expands and formalizes the collaboration.

All Howard students and alumni who apply and are admitted to one of McCourt’s degree programs– the master of data science for public policy, international development policy, policy management, or public policy– will be automatically considered for the scholarship.

“The McCourt School aspires to be the most inclusive top public policy program in the world,” said Maria Cancian, dean of the McCourt School. “The creation of the Howard Scholar at McCourt program will help us deliver on our commitment to broadening the diversity of perspective and life experience at McCourt. We are excited to build on our collaboration with Howard University as we prepare to move to the Capital Campus and take advantage of being even closer neighbors.”

The Howard Scholar at McCourt program will begin in Fall of 2021.

Bridging World-Class Research and Scholarship

The agreement also provides a platform to encourage research collaborations among Georgetown and Howard faculty.

Howard faculty conducting approved research projects will have increased access to the confidential microdata housed within the Georgetown University Research Data Center (GURDC) at McCourt’s Massive Data Institute .

The GURDC is a joint project by the Census Bureau and the Massive Data Institute, which provides a secure data lab to enable research on restricted data sets. To use the lab, researchers must develop a project proposal, receive approval for the project, and undergo security clearance.

Deepening Our Ties

The agreement deepens the existing ties between Georgetown and Howard.

The two institutions, along with MedStar Health Research Institute, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the Washington Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center, partner in the Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Science , a consortium of medical research institutions forged from a desire to promote clinical research and translational science.

In October 2020, Georgetown Law’s Innovative Policing Program partnered with The Lab @ DC and Howard University to co-host the final session of a seven-part workshop series designed to reimagine the role of police stops in public safety.

A number of Howard students volunteered to participate in the first sample-based election observation in U.S. history , in a 2018 project led by McCourt School alumnus Ben Mindes.

Georgetown and Howard agreed to explore other meaningful collaborations, such as research center collaborations, a potential semester-in-DC program to include coursework from both McCourt and Howard, mutual exchanges of access to courses, and events like seminars and conferences.