Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar - History

History

In 2005 the SFS joined four other U.S. universities in opening a campus in Education City. All costs for the development of this campus are paid for by the non-profit Qatar Foundation. The requirements for the Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service degree are the same as those of the Washington campus. Classes started in August 2005 with 25 students. By August 2007, the student body grew to 110 students, and by 2011 to approximately 200.

Georgetown University began studying the feasibility of opening a campus of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service in Qatar in October 2002, when the Qatar Foundation, which is funding the entire enterprise, first proposed the idea. They came to Georgetown after meetings with U.S. Ambassador to Qatar, Patrick N. Theros. Theros was himself a School of Foreign Service alumnus, and suggested Georgetown be included. In consultation with government officials, Washington-based embassies from nations of the region, academic institutions in the region, business leaders, Catholic and Jesuit leaders, and other officials, Georgetown evaluated this opportunity to ensure that it built appropriately on its international presence and academic excellence and is consistent with the Catholic-Jesuit identity of the University.