Johns Hopkins to Open School of Government and Policy in Washington, D.C.

Johns Hopkins University will open a School of Government and Policy at its new downtown location in Washington, D.C., school officials announced Oct. 6.

School officials plan to launch the School of Government and Policy by fall 2026, according to a press release, and a search for a dean will begin soon. The school will be the first new academic division at Johns Hopkins since 2007.

The new policy school is expected to serve 200-250 students.

Johns Hopkins President Ronald Daniels said the new school “will bring novel expertise and insight informed by large-scale data sets to shape policy and address the challenges facing our nation and world.”

“This new school will draw on our university’s existing strengths in international studies, public health, medicine and life sciences, and engineering and technology and offer a different approach to the work of government and policy, one that can help rebuild confidence in our institutions and advance new and needed approaches for more effective government,” Daniels said.

The School of Government and Policy will be located at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, the university’s new downtown facility located just steps from the National Mall in the heart of Washington, D.C. Other Johns Hopkins schools with a major presence at that new facility include the School of Advanced International Studies, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Carey Business School, and the Peabody Institute.

The 435,000-square-foot campus was formerly the Newseum building, according to the release.

Daniels said the new facility “will deepen our presence in D.C. at a time when society is struggling to come together to solve problems and seize opportunities to advance the common good.”

“Through the center, we will amplify our university’s proven capacity to bring the world’s greatest research and data-driven approaches to government innovation and policy,” Daniels said.

Johns Hopkins isn’t the only school to expand into Washington, D.C., this year. The University of Southern California (USC) opened a new campus extension in the district earlier this year, joining other West Coast universities like Pepperdine, the University of California, and Stanford in establishing a campus in the nation’s capital.

“This presence in our nation’s capital will significantly increase opportunities for our researchers to influence the many important national conversations on urgent topics that require immediate attention,” Ishwar K. Puri, USC’s senior vice president for research and innovation, said in a statement at the time.

Johns Hopkins’ new School of Government and Policy will work closely with the School of Advanced International Studies at the new campus, according to the release, “allowing the two schools to find synergies and collaborations that bring faculty expertise to transnational challenges in areas such as technology policy, climate, sustainability, and economics and finance.”