A new residential academic experience housed at the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy’s Wolpe Center in Washington D.C., will offer a one-of-a-kind immersive public policy learning experience for first-semester public policy and health care policy majors.

The program, DC Start, will launch with an inaugural cohort of 40-45 undergraduates entering their first semesters in fall 2025.

“This is an exciting moment in the development of the Brooks School,” said Inaugural Dean Colleen Barry. “Giving first-semester undergraduates the opportunity to live in the heart of Washington D.C. as they launch their academic studies aligns with our commitment to offering hands-on learning experiences that prepare our students to address the world’s most pressing policy challenges.”

The DC Start curriculum is designed to provide a jump start for first-semester policy students who want to pursue careers in national and international public affairs. In their first semester at Cornell, DC Start Scholars will take a signature immersive learning course in applied public policy. This course will offer closeup exposure to policymaking and political process, alongside first-semester coursework required for the Brooks School public policy and health care policy majors. The curriculum will allow DC Start Scholars to seamlessly advance in their majors when they return to the Ithaca campus for their spring semester at Cornell.

“If we want to train students who will improve the world by engaging with public policy, then we have to introduce them to the policy landscape and help them to create lasting connections and passions in real world career pathways,” said Maria Fitzpatrick, Brooks School senior associate dean for academic affairs. “DC Start is exciting because it’s an experience no other policy school is offering to their undergraduates.”

In addition to their applied public policy and core curriculum coursework, DC Start Scholars will have the opportunity to take elective courses on policy-related topics such as Inside Government, taught by former Congressman Steve Israel, director of the Institute on Politics and Global Affairs at the Brooks School and professor of practice in the Brooks School, and Constitutional Law with Ronald Christie, a veteran senior adviser in both the White House and the U.S. Congress. Students will also will engage with Cornell alumni and other policy leaders working in D.C. public policy-related fields.

Located at the corner of 22nd and O streets in the Dupont Circle neighborhood, the Brooks School’s Wolpe Center – which will continue to house the Cornell in Washington program during spring and summer terms – offers close proximity to all the main attractions of the city’s cultural and civic life. In addition to pursuing their coursework in the Wolpe Center’s dedicated classrooms, students will participate in a tailored slate of cultural activities, small group conversations with policy leaders, behind-the-scenes visits to major D.C. landmarks and historic sites, and social events on Capitol Hill. 

The Brooks School is currently reviewing applications for its incoming fall 2025 undergraduate class and will admit applicants as DC Start Scholars through a rigorous admissions process. Information on the DC Start program will be updated regularly through the Brooks School admissions website. Incoming Brooks students interested in pursuing DC Start should contact the Brooks Office of Admissions, Student Services and Career Management at brooks_admissions@cornell.edu.

Giles Morris is assistant dean for communications in the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy.