<p>Have you visited American U? It is located in a neighborhood that is not what you may picture when you picture D.C.–a lovely residential area. It’s not really “in the heart of” D.C., if that’s important to you. </p>
<p>If you are a participant in AU’s Washington Semester program (which is, I gather, their exchange program for students for other colleges, although perhaps one can also attend as an exchange student without participating in Washington Semester) you would have the option of living in a dorm on the Tenley Campus, which is a few minutes away from main campus but is the home of the Washington College of Law and the Washington Semester Program. It is connected to main campus by shuttle bus, but the distance is walkable. The Tenley Campus is convenient to metro (more convenient than the main campus) for venturing into downtown D.C. </p>
<p>Also, there are certain apartment buildings near campus that are occupied almost entirely by AU students, so while they are “off-campus housing,” you might not feel like you were not part of campus life.</p>