I got a catalog in the mail and was perusing it one night as I watched tv. A totally unassuming…read morecatalog, it's printed on newsprint and is small. The courses they offered seemed wide in variety and like your standard adult education - I was surprised and pleasantly impressed since I had tried to find adult education in Alexandria previously and was not successful. This catalog somehow came to me without me having to find it. The class was 'How to Buy Residence' and it was $30 for city residents, and $40 for non city residents, taught by Dr. Diane Murphy, who is a buyer's broker. When we signed up for the class, we figured...'what were we going to get for $30? We'll be lucky if we learn ONE thing that night', but for the price, we figured what the heck. Parking is not hard although navigating through the school is ridiculous - it's quite sprawled out and just tough to find the class we needed. But when you walk into the building, there is a sign for Adult Education and a listing of classes and classrooms, so immediately I felt better; I was in the right place. It was a two hour class and it turned out to be chock full of good information. The class was excellent, excellent, excellent. I would have easily paid 3x-4x as much for the quantity and quality of information I learned in that class. I highly suggest anyone thinking about purchasing in the next 3 years to take this class. I was a total beginner and my boyfriend was a lot more knowledgeable about the subject, but he learned some important facts also, and said 'sometimes it's just good to hear it again'. The class probably should have been 2 hours a day for 2 to 3 days. I have a feeling she had a lot more info to impart. It also was as she said 'trying to drink out of a fire hose' - it's a huge amount of information in a short amount of time. But it's all good stuff. There were 10 people in the class. The registration process left much to be desired. It was so stone aged I almost ended up not registering. In this day and age, having to print two forms for my boyfriend and I to take a class (we don't fit on the same form), write a check and then snail mail this over to wait and see if you got in - it's unheard of. Nevertheless, I was sooo happy with the quality of the class, that I would easily do it over again and am looking through to see what else they have now. *Note: Please keep in mind that this review is based on ONE class; I can't comment on any of the others until I have tried them, and when I do try another one, I will update my review then.

If you're retired and haven't discovered OLLI, you're missing a great opportunity to take fun…read moreclasses (no tests, no homework) and meet lots of interesting people.

Jerry and Robert are phenomenal! They both went above and beyond to make the class run smooth and…read moreefficiently. I am immensely thankful to both of them and credit the success of the class to both of them. I HIGHLY recommend this program.

Took a Microsoft Office Specialist Certification Exam here. The Proctors were friendly and…read moreprofessional, but unfortunately they do not get the support they need from the IT and Admin staff in order to offer these exams in a timely manner. The first time I took the exam, the Proctor spent an hour trying to get in contact with a member of FCPS's IT staff to get the license for the software needed to take my exam. This delay definitely took me off my game, and may have been a contributing factor to my failing of the exam by one question. For my retake, it was discovered while I was waiting for the exam that PC used to proctor the exam had not been updated, and would take until after 9pm at night to finish updating. Luckily, the Proctor was willing to come in on her off day so that I could take the exam before my certification deadline. In addition, scheduling the exams were a massive pain, with the admin staff in charge of registration often transferring my call to a person not in the office, resulting in having to play phone tag for over an hour in order to get the exam scheduled each time. Although the Proctors were friendly, professional, and went above and beyond the call of duty, the lack of support from the rest of FCPS's Adult and Community Education staff proved to be extremely detrimental to my experience, which is why I must give them a 2 star review. Until this situation changes, I can not recommend FCPS's ACE program to anyone.

The non credit options have been on hiatus for a while. Their site mentions vaccine status, so most…read morelikely covid related which is a few years old now. Hopefully they have some sort of update on their one off or non-credit classes.

Great classes, and great teachers. I think it's the only high quality art school in DC…read more Everybody is so helpful there.

Attended the college numerous times from the 90's through 2018. The college has been consistent…read morewith its affordability and quality of education. I feel blessed to have this college in my hometown. I highly recommend the college and remain grateful for all my experiences there.

It's a small, easily accessible, and a very cleanly campus. I enjoyed my visit there.read more

My life, knowledge and passions have been enriched to degrees I never imaged I would reach in my…read moremid-60s thanks to the myriad of classes and day trips I have enjoyed with Smithsonian Associates. On Saturday, August 17, 2024, the day trip, A Natural History of the Mid-Atlantic: Stories of Calvert County, Maryland led by the jovial, kind and informative Hayden Matthews included visits to the historic and geographical significant Battle Creek Cypress Swamp; a visit to the Calvert Marine Museum chock full of information and displays on the formation of the Chesapeake Bay with megalodon Shark teeth and intact, carefully preserved prehistoric fresh water and sea water shells, as well as a stop at the amazing AnnMarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center featuring a stunning life-sized bronze sculpture of a man working a set of long, heavy oyster tongs in front of the museum. We concluded this trip by visiting the Bladensburg Battlefield of 1812 which sits atop of a tall hill now home to a Catholic church. From this high vantage point I was able to imagine how hard local folks worked to mobilize to keep British soldiers at bay from our nation's capitol. A smattering of zoom classes I have enjoyed worth highlighting are: * Is God a Mathematician with Dr. Mario Livio * Spitfires: The Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger during WWII with Becky Aikman * The Hessians are Coming: Mercenary Soldiers and the American Revolution with Dr. Richard Bell * The Civil War in Perspective: Our Evolving Story with Dr. Stephen Engle * Overfed, Overpaid, Oversexed--Over There: Yanks in Britain in WWII with Dr. Kevin Matthews * What Fossils Reveal About Coral Survival with Lisa S. Gardiner * The Harvey Girls and the Ladies of the Canyons: Uncovering Women's History in the Southwest with Lesley Poling-Kempes, * The Pacific Ring of Fire: A Geologic Overview (7 week/once per week series) with Dr. Kirt Kempter, and lastly * Understanding Alzheimer's Disease and Dementias with Dr. Barry Gordon, MD. I remain so very grateful to Smithsonian Associates with more classes to enjoy~

Smithsonian Associates charges 10% ticket processing fee for online orders. Ten per cent when…read morethere is NO HUMAN INVOLVED in the transaction is exorbitant. No paper ticket is ever printed nor offered. There is a printed names list at the venue. This fee is exorbitant.

Well-run, with high standards. Very popular among students, teachers and volunteers. WEC stands…read moreout as an important counter-balance to today's prevailing political culture, regarding immigrants and race relations.

I used to be a volunteer teacher at the Washington English Center, and it was one of my favorite…read moretimes of the week. I looked forward to being around people who enjoyed teaching English, and meeting students from all around the world. If I ever came across a family member or friend who needed English support, I would definitely send them here as well. From a volunteer perspective, the Center provides so much support and training for its teachers (who do not need to be professional teachers, so this helps), including a ready-made curriculum and textbooks. Though I've been an ESL tutor in the past, having this institutional support was important for me as I wanted to be well-prepared for my students. The teaching set-up also requires each class to be taught by two teachers, which is very helpful! The students come from all around the world and have many different reasons for being in the program. I loved laughing with them, learning from them (as well as my co-teachers!!), and even learning a few things about the English language myself.

Lovely campus easily accessible from the nearby Metro station. We were at this location,…read morespecifically at the Pryzbacki Center building, for a one-day seminar utilizing various meeting rooms and large hall spaces for speakers as well as a luncheon. Seating was comfortable and uncomfortable dependent upon various rooms we accessed. Likewise, regarding climate controls for hot or cold temps per different rooms. Restrooms were clean and well stocked. Elevators were functional and could comfortably move groups of approximately 6 per trip. Stairs were also easily accessible. Conference hosted approximately 250 participants and this was a great choice for a venue. Property overall appears well maintained.

Well, it's my alma mater so I have to show some love…read more I know, I know -- the name is off-putting but really it's no different than Georgetown, Villanova, BC or Notre Dame. The campus is probably the biggest of the DC colleges and is almost as nice as Georgetown's. There are several excellent departments there: politics, architecture, music/drama and there's the law school. Socially, the place is loaded with Irish Catholics from the Boston-DC corridor with a large contingent from New Orleans so this can mean only one thing: lots of boozin'! And with a Metro stop right at the campus you can get practically anywhere in town in minutes. The campus and the Brookland neighborhood are much improved since my time there which only made me want to give CUA a higher rating.