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George Mason University

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George Mason University Overview

George Mason University is a public institution situated in Fairfax, Virginia. The suburban atmosphere of Fairfax makes it a great place for students who want the amenities of city life without actually living in the middle of a constant hustle and bustle.

What Is George Mason University Known For?

5,974 Undergraduate Awards
$43,210 Avg Cost After Aid
89% Acceptance Rate
  • The student loan default rate at GMU is 3%, which is significantly lower than the national rate of 10.1%. That's great news for students who are worrying about paying off their student loans.
  • Although it may not be available for every major, the doctor's degree is the highest award a student can attain at GMU.
  • For the 2017-2018 academic year, 52% of the faculty were full-time.
  • After graduation, GMU bachelor's degree recipients go on to jobs where they make $59,900 a year. That's about 47% more than their peers at other schools.

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George Mason University Rankings

According to our 2022 analysis, GMU is ranked #308 out of 2,587 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality. This puts it in the top 15% of all schools in the nation. Out of the 73 colleges in Virginia, it is ranked at #11.

These rankings may look different from those published by other outlets, because we use an outcomes-based approach rather than a subjective one. We get our data from a number of places, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard. For more information, check out our rankings and methodology page.

GMU has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.

Rank Ranking Name Share
#106 Best Graduate Certificate Schools Tweet It - Post It

Program Level Awards

These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at GMU.

Rank Ranking Name Share
#1 Best Mathematics & Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#1 Best Homeland Security Graduate Certificate Schools Tweet It - Post It
#2 Best Law Enforcement & Firefighting Graduate Certificate Schools Tweet It - Post It
#9 Best Geography & Cartography Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#17 Best General Psychology Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#18 Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#37 Best Special Education Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#51 Best Psychology Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#66 Best Computer & Information Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#123 Best Education Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards GMU has earned from around the web.

Rank Ranking Name Source
#9 Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools College Factual
#12 Best Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting Schools College Factual
#18 Best Special Education Schools College Factual
#75 Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools College Factual
#82 Best Computer Science Schools Computer Science Degree
#86 Best Education Schools College Factual

Where Is George Mason University?

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Contact details for GMU are given below.

Contact Details
Address: 4400 University Dr, Fairfax, VA 22030-4444
Phone: 703-993-1000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/georgemason
Twitter: https://twitter.com/georgemasonu

How Do I Get Into GMU?

You can apply to GMU online at: https://www2.gmu.edu/admissions-aid/apply-now

Admission Requirements for GMU

Submission Required?
High School GPA required
High School Rank considered but not required
High School Transcript required
College Prep Program required
Recommendations considered but not required
SAT or ACT Scores considered but not required
TOEFL required

How Hard Is It To Get Into GMU?

89% Acceptance Rate
57% Of Accepted Are Women
68% Submit SAT Scores
GMU has the high acceptance rate of 89%, which means it is fairly easy to gain admittance as long as you submit a complete application with requested materials.

Approximately 43% of accepted students are men and 57% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 87%, and the acceptance rate for women is 91%.

Average Test Scores

About 68% of students accepted to GMU submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 560 and 650. Math scores were between 540 and 650.

SAT Reading and Writing Scores for George Mason University  ( 560 to 650 )
200
800

SAT Math Scores for George Mason University  ( 540 to 650 )
200
800
GMU received ACT scores from 7% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 23 and 32. Math scores were between 23 and 28. Composite scores were between 24 and 30.

ACT English Scores for George Mason University  ( 23 to 32 )
1
36
ACT Math Scores for George Mason University  ( 23 to 28 )
1
36
ACT Composite Scores for George Mason University  ( 24 to 30 )
1
36

Can I Afford George Mason University?

$43,210 Net Price
47% Take Out Loans
2.6% Loan Default Rate
The overall average net price of GMU is $43,210. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.

Student Loan Debt

While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At GMU, approximately 47% of students took out student loans averaging $7,950 a year. That adds up to $31,800 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at GMU is 2.6%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.

George Mason University Undergraduate Student Diversity

21,603 Full-Time Undergraduates
50% Women
54% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
There are 27,104 undergraduate students at GMU, with 21,603 being full-time and 5,501 being part-time.

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There are also 11,437 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 21,603 full-time undergraduates at GMU, 50% are male and 50% are female.

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Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of George Mason University students is as follows.

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 4,734
Black or African American 2,490
Hispanic or Latino 3,288
White 7,970
International Students 1,245
Other Races/Ethnicities 1,876

Geographic Diversity

Virginia students aren't the only ones who study at George Mason University. At this time, 44 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 126 countries are represented at GMU. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, India, and Saudi Arabia.

Online Learning at George Mason University

27,235 Took All Classes Online
36,902 Took At Least One Class Online
254.6% Avg Growth Over 4 Years
There are 10 bachelor’s degree and 21 master’s degree programs available online at GMU. In 2019-2020, 36,902 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at GMU has changed over the last few years.

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This school is the 4th most popular in Virginia for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.

Online Affordability Rankings of GMU

The following table shows how GMU is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are not mostly online.

Major Tuition for In-State Students Tuition for Out-of-State Students
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics #1 #4
Microbiological Sciences & Immunology #4 #4
Peace Studies & Conflict Resolution #4 #7
Communications Technologies & Support #4 #16
Other Public Administration #9 #12
Computer Systems Networking #16 #22
Systems Engineering #19 #22
Medical Illustration & Informatics #31 #52
Accounting #57 #127
Computer Information Systems #63 #109

Online Affordability Rankings of GMU Rankings

The following table shows how GMU is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are mostly online.

Major Tuition for In-State Students Tuition for Out-of-State Students
Computer Systems Networking #1 #7
Peace Studies & Conflict Resolution #1 #1
Mathematics & Computer Science #1 #1
Music #4 #4
Microbiological Sciences & Immunology #4 #4
Computer Software & Applications #5 #5
Communications Technologies & Support #7 #13
Graphic Communications #7 #16
Economics #7 #7
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics #7 #7
Systems Engineering #12 #15
Engineering #13 #22
Medical Illustration & Informatics #14 #21
Other Health Professions #15 #18
Visual & Performing Arts #16 #19
Geography & Cartography #19 #19
Teacher Education Subject Specific #24 #30
Social Sciences #28 #46
Social Work #31 #35
Public Administration & Social Service #52 #129
Public Health #55 #76
Multi / Interdisciplinary Studies #55 #68
Special Education #59 #94
Curriculum & Instruction #72 #96
Accounting #73 #166

Online Growth Rankings of GMU

The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at George Mason University was 254.6%. This is the #241 largest growth rate of all schools that are mostly online. This refers to all students at GMU regardless of major.

The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of GMU majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.

Major 1-Year Growth Rate
Business Administration & Management 15%
Business, Management & Marketing 8%
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology 66%
Communications Technologies & Support 24%
Computer & Information Sciences 8%
Computer Information Systems 8%
Computer Software & Applications 27%
Economics 8%
Educational Administration 23%
General Psychology 1%
Graphic Communications 24%
Health Professions 4%
Homeland Security 18%
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting 8%
Legal Professions 10%
Legal Research 64%
Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities 12%
Liberal Arts General Studies 12%
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods 31%
Mathematics & Computer Science 50%
Medical Illustration & Informatics 35%
Multi / Interdisciplinary Studies 5%
Music 20%
Nursing 12%
Psychology 18%
Social Sciences 2%
Special Education 11%
Visual & Performing Arts 1%

The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at GMU ranks compared to all other mostly online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at GMU.

Major Growth Rate Rank
History #1
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics #1
Microbiological Sciences & Immunology #1
Mathematics & Computer Science #1
Economics #1
Peace Studies & Conflict Resolution #1
Systems Engineering #1
Communications Technologies & Support #1
Graphic Communications #1
History #1
Medical Illustration & Informatics #4
Geography & Cartography #4
Music #4
Electrical Engineering #4
Computer Systems Networking #5
Homeland Security #5
Legal Research #7
Other Health Professions #7
Computer Software & Applications #7
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods #9
Curriculum & Instruction #10
Social Work #10
Biological & Biomedical Sciences #10
Visual & Performing Arts #13
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology #14
Teaching English or French #14
General Psychology #16
Engineering #16
Public Health #19
Legal Professions #21
Instructional Media Design #22
Social Sciences #22
Computer Information Systems #26
Educational Administration #29
Multi / Interdisciplinary Studies #29
Health & Medical Administrative Services #31
Accounting #31
Psychology #31
Public Administration & Social Service #34
Teacher Education Subject Specific #36
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting #39
Special Education #40
Nursing #41
Computer & Information Sciences #45
Liberal Arts General Studies #45
Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities #45
Education #97
Business Administration & Management #103
Health Professions #109
Business, Management & Marketing #145

When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.

George Mason University Undergraduate Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major Bachelor’s Graduate Certificate Master’s Doctor’s TOTAL
Computer Information Systems 638 1 137 14 790
Curriculum & Instruction 0 48 412 0 460
General Psychology 340 0 72 26 438
Special Education 0 96 341 0 437
Business Administration & Management 243 4 185 0 432
Criminal Justice & Corrections 384 0 26 3 413
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods 344 62 0 0 406
General Biology 266 107 32 0 405
Liberal Arts General Studies 377 0 0 6 383
Accounting 238 47 72 0 357
Nursing 167 14 52 34 267
International Relations & National Security 173 5 89 0 267
Public Health 184 2 59 3 248
Writing Studies 210 0 28 2 240
Educational Administration 0 25 192 0 217
Computer Software & Applications 0 9 198 0 207
Economics 132 0 45 21 198
Finance & Financial Management 192 0 0 0 192
Political Science & Government 177 0 10 5 192
Law 0 0 0 172 172
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology 0 138 22 0 160
Social Work 58 0 87 0 145
Peace Studies & Conflict Resolution 46 4 66 20 136
Other Health Professions 127 0 0 0 127
History 84 4 30 6 124
Civil Engineering 81 0 37 3 121
Electrical Engineering 76 10 29 5 120
Marketing 109 0 0 0 109
Teacher Education Subject Specific 61 16 21 0 98
Music 55 0 37 6 98
Health & Physical Education 67 0 27 0 94
General English Literature 91 0 0 0 91
Homeland Security 76 12 2 0 90
Public Policy 0 4 69 16 89
Computer Engineering 34 4 50 0 88
General Visual & Performing Arts 85 0 3 0 88
Public Administration 23 2 61 0 86
Mechanical Engineering 76 0 0 0 76
Neurobiology & Neurosciences 66 0 0 9 75
Mathematics 57 0 6 3 66
Systems Engineering 35 1 23 4 63
Graphic Communications 58 0 1 0 59
Natural Resources Conservation 29 0 22 4 55
Geography & Cartography 21 14 15 0 50
Student Counseling 0 2 46 0 48
Arts & Media Management 0 0 48 0 48
Linguistics & Comparative Literature 32 0 10 4 46
Medical Illustration & Informatics 0 15 31 0 46
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 45 0 0 0 45
Biomedical Engineering 38 0 1 3 42
Mathematics & Computer Science 30 0 10 2 42
Chemistry 35 0 7 0 42
General Education 0 0 0 41 41
Sociology 31 0 6 2 39
International Studies 0 0 36 0 36
Sustainability Science 35 0 0 0 35
Hospitality Management 34 0 0 0 34
Legal Research 0 0 33 0 33
General Business/Commerce 0 0 32 0 32
Anthropology 21 0 10 0 31
Instructional Media Design 0 30 0 0 30
Physics 13 0 9 7 29
Teaching English or French 0 28 0 0 28
Drama & Theater Arts 28 0 0 0 28
Literature 0 0 25 0 25
Computer Systems Networking 0 0 24 0 24
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies 0 0 24 0 24
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services 0 2 21 0 23
Philosophy 17 0 6 0 23
Geological & Earth Sciences 15 0 1 7 23
Communication & Media Studies 0 0 22 0 22
Allied Health Professions 15 0 7 0 22
Statistics 4 2 12 4 22
Human Resource Management 0 0 21 0 21
Real Estate 0 0 20 0 20
Information Technology 0 0 20 0 20
Fine & Studio Arts 9 4 7 0 20
Computer Science 19 0 0 0 19
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions 18 0 0 0 18
Area Studies 8 0 9 0 17
Industrial Engineering 0 0 16 0 16
Health & Medical Administrative Services 0 0 16 0 16
Microbiological Sciences & Immunology 0 3 8 4 15
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics 0 1 10 3 14
Dance 14 0 0 0 14
Human Development & Family Studies 13 0 0 0 13
Public Relations & Advertising 0 1 0 9 10
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science 10 0 0 0 10
Information Science 0 0 9 0 9
Biological & Physical Science 0 0 0 8 8
Ethnic Studies 0 7 0 0 7
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology 0 0 0 6 6
Science, Technology & Society 0 3 0 3 6
Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology 3 0 0 3 6
Teacher Education Grade Specific 0 3 0 1 4
Astronomy & Astrophysics 4 0 0 0 4
Other Public Administration 0 1 3 0 4
Legal Professions (Other) 0 0 3 0 3
Dispute Resolution 0 0 3 0 3
Religious Studies 3 0 0 0 3
Management Information Systems 0 2 0 0 2
Construction Engineering 0 0 2 0 2
General Engineering 0 2 0 0 2
Gerontology 0 2 0 0 2
Design & Applied Arts 0 0 2 0 2
Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology 0 1 0 0 1
Operations Research 0 1 0 0 1
Applied Mathematics 0 1 0 0 1
Computational Science 0 1 0 0 1
Other Physical Science 0 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 5,974 741 3,128 469 10,312

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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