Georgetown College, the first Catholic university in the United States, is founded in Georgetown, Maryland (now a part of Washington, D.C.) when Bishop John Carroll, Rev. Robert Molyneux, and Rev. John Ashton purchase land for the proposed academy for the education of youth.

Georgetown University is a private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic institution of higher education in the United States, the oldest university in Washington, D.C., and the nation's first federally chartered university.

Catholic higher education includes universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher education privately run by the Catholic Church, typically by religious institutes. Those tied to the Holy See are specifically called pontifical universities.

Georgetown is a historic neighborhood and commercial district in Northwest Washington, D.C., situated along the Potomac River. Founded in 1751 as part of the colonial-era Province of Maryland, Georgetown predated the establishment of Washington, D.C. by 40 years. Georgetown was an independent municipality until 1871 when the United States Congress created a new consolidated government for the entire District of Columbia. A separate act, passed in 1895, repealed Georgetown's remaining local ordinances and renamed Georgetown's streets to conform with those in Washington, D.C.

John Carroll was an American Catholic prelate who served as the first Bishop of Baltimore, then the only diocese in the nascent United States, from 1789 to 1815. He became the first Archbishop of Baltimore in 1808, up to which point Carroll had also administered the entire U.S. Catholic Church. Born to an aristocratic family in the colonial-era Province of Maryland, Carroll spent most of his early years as a priest in Europe, teaching and serving as a chaplain. After returning to Maryland in 1773, he started organizing the Catholic Church in America with a small cadre of priests. The Vatican appointed him to several roles as leader of the American Catholic hierarchy, culminating in his appointment as archbishop.