Fast Facts & History

History

William Wilson Corcoran founded the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1869. He donated additional funding to establish the school in 1878. The Corcoran’s evolving collection includes more than 17,000 works and objects and is considered one of the best American art collections in the world. The Corcoran’s original 19th-century location at Pennsylvania Avenue and Seventeenth Street was designed by James Renwick and is now the Smithsonian Institution’s Renwick Gallery.

Click here for a more detailed history of the institution.

Fast Facts

Type of Institution

Private, non-profit

Enrollment

615 Total Degree Students
347 Undergraduate
268 Graduate 

Countries Represented

29

Campuses

Downtown
500 Seventeenth Street NW
Washington, DC 20006

Georgetown
1801 Thirty-fifth Street NW
Washington, DC 20007

Accreditation 

Founded in 1890, The Corcoran College of Art + Design is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104; Tel. (267) 284-5000). The Commission on Higher Education is an Institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Commission on Recognition of Postsecondary Accreditation. The College is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design while the Government of the District of Columbia Educational Licensure Commission licenses the College to grant AFA, BFA, BA, MA, and MAT degrees.

The College is also authorized by the District of Columbia State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) to prepare candidates for D.C. licensure in art education.

Facts about Washington, D.C.

• 65 museums, monuments, and other cultural resources

• Over 150 embassies and international organizations

• More than 120,000 students pursue college degrees in the metropolitan region

• 15 colleges and universities

•  Approximately 9,000 acres of public parks weave through the Washington metropolitan area