Tufts in Washington

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The purpose of the Tufts-in-Washington program is to allow Tufts undergraduates to study our national government first-hand. Participating students attend the Washington Semester at American University, and may take one of two tracks that comprise the program: American National Politics or American Foreign Policy. We have made special arrangements with American University to provide Tufts students with the best possible learning experience available in a Washington semester. The program includes the equivalent of four courses, the cornerstone being an internship of the student's choosing, which is arranged soon after arrival in Washington. Students work two days a week at their internships.

The second course is an independent research project supervised by an American University faculty member. This project results in a major paper on a topic selected by the student. Program applicants must have a general idea of their research topic before going to Washington. A more detailed proposal is developed upon arrival in Washington. Tufts students MUST complete the research project with a satisfactory grade in order to get Political Science credit for any of the Tufts-In-Washington courses.

The third and fourth courses consist of a double-credit Washington seminar that includes meetings two or three times a week with political elites such as members of Congress, executive branch officials, representatives of interests groups, journalists and the like. Some seminar sessions integrate the work of political scientists with students' observations of the real world.

Eligibility
Students need not be political science majors but they must have taken political science, international relations, or economics courses in the area they intend to pursue in Washington. Applicants may not apply before their fourth semester of college work; that is, students must be at least a first semester junior by the time they enroll in the program in Washington.

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Application Procedures
We have recently made some changes to the application process for The Tufts in Washington program. To insure that your application is formally processed please adhere to the following steps:

1. All students interesting in applying for the Tufts in Washington Program must log in, complete, and submit the American University on-line application.
2. Students must also print and submit an additional copy of the completed application to the Staff Assistant in the Department of Political Science, Packard Hall.
3. The Department's TIW Program Director and committee members will notify applicants by March 19th of the Committee's decision.
4. If you have additional questions, please do not send an email, but rather meet with Professor Eichenberg during his scheduled office hours in Packard 209, which are: Tue & Thu 12:30-1:30pm (Spring 2012.)
5. The deadline for the Tufts in Washington application is March 15th of each academic year.

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Billing and Housing while at Tufts-in-Washington program
Students are registered at Tufts and are billed all the costs of the program through their Tufts eBill. A comprehensive fee of $28,016 (subject to change) includes tuition, room, board, and fees for one semester in the program. A medical insurance premium will be billed but may be waived if the student is covered by the family's insurance policy. Students are housed at American University (AU) in Washington, D.C. but all costs are billed by and payable to Tufts by the billing due date. Certain courses at AU may require transportation costs. These costs will be added to the Tufts eBill after Tufts has been notified by AU. Students receiving Tufts financial aid will continue to receive their aid while in Washington. There is no provision, however, for continuation of work-study during the semester in Washington.

For billing and financial aid questions contact Student Services at 617-627-2000.

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