What You'll Actually Pay
Price after grants
$11,942 to $25,894 a year for in-state students, depending on income.
College Scorecard 2024 estimate · in-state rates
See the price at your income ↑Sticker price
Full cost before aid: $28,604 a year in-state. Average need-based aid package: $20,270.Aid and debt
21.2%
receive need-based grants
$30,007
average debt at graduation
3,121
students got merit aid
about 11% of undergraduates
$7,341
average merit award
Getting In
Key dates
Test scores
SAT, middle 50% of those who submitted: 1180–1360 · 18% of the class submitted
ACT, middle 50% of those who submitted: 25–31 · 100% of the class submitted
23.2% were in the top 10% of their high school class.
What they value
- Very important
- Course rigor (AP/IB)
- GPA
- Important
- Special talent
- Considered
- SAT/ACT scores
- Personal essay
- Recommendations
- Extracurriculars
- Character
- Where you're from
- In-state residency
- Volunteer work
- Work experience
- Not considered
- Class rank
- First-gen status
- Legacy status
- Demonstrated interest
What this means for you
George Mason rates course rigor as Very Important.
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Rigor means AP, IB, and dual enrollment carry real weight — make sure your mix of AP or IB courses is strong.
George Mason doesn't consider demonstrated interest in admissions at all — visits and follow-up emails won't move the needle here.
Source: Common Data Set 2025–26, Section C7 (admissions factors)
George Mason just showed you what it values in an application. Use that to write a Why-George Mason essay that's actually about you — not a template.
Get sourced starting points for your essayStudent Life
33.4% of George Mason classes have fewer than 20 students.
33.4%
under 20 students
52.9%
20 to 49
13.7%
50 or more
Every class section counts, labs and seminars included; first-year courses tend to be larger. George Mason CDS 2025–26, I-3.
17:1
student:faculty ratio
Campus life
10.9%
first-years from out of state
18.1%
live on campus
3.2%
of men in fraternities
2.7%
of women in sororities
Who attends
- White30.4%
- Asian23%
- Hispanic18.4%
- Black13.2%
- Multiracial5.8%
- Unknown / other3.2%
Enrolled undergraduates; international students are counted separately and not included. George Mason CDS 2025–26, B2.
Popular majors
Will They Graduate?
45.7% of George Mason students graduate in 4 years.
45.7%
finish in 4 years
Entered fall 2019
66.5%
finish in 6 years
Entered fall 2019
86.3%
return after first year
Finishing late means paying for extra semesters, so the 4-year rate is the one that shows the cost.
Students with Pell Grants
62.9% finish in 6 years, against 66.5% of all students.
A 3.6-point gap: Pell Grant students finish less often than students overall.
City & Culture
Beyond the data — what it's actually like to spend four years in Fairfax.
Mason's campus is the opposite of the city campus its Washington address suggests: 677 wooded acres in Fairfax, accredited as an arboretum, with the quad, Fenwick Library and Horizon Hall arranged around lawns rather than city blocks.
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The city of Fairfax itself is small and suburban — an Old Town of restaurants and a historic courthouse a couple of miles off — so the pull is outward. Washington is the real amenity, reached by a university shuttle to the Vienna Metro and then the Orange Line, which puts the Smithsonian museums, the monuments and the internship circuit within a single fare. The trade-off is the one that shapes daily life here: with 18.1% of undergraduates in university housing, most students drive, and Northern Virginia traffic and parking are a genuine part of the calculation. Students who want a self-contained campus where everyone lives within a ten-minute walk will find that this is not that place; students who want a green campus with a capital city attached will find few better arrangements.
The City
Major city
Fairfax, VA
Best For
Notable alumni
Notable Alumni
Anousheh Ansari
The first self-funded woman to fly to the International Space Station, launching aboard Soyuz TMA-9 in September 2006 and spending about nine days in orbit. She earned her bachelor's in electrical engineering and computer science at Mason, and is now chief executive of the XPRIZE Foundation.
Rhea Seehorn
The actress behind Kim Wexler in Better Call Saul, a role that drew three Critics' Choice nominations. She came to Mason for the visual arts and was introduced to theater here, earning her bachelor's degree before moving into acting.
Brian Krebs
The investigative cybersecurity journalist behind KrebsOnSecurity, whose reporting has taken down criminal hosting providers and broke early coverage of the Stuxnet malware. His book Spam Nation won a 2015 PROSE Award. He graduated from Mason in 1994 with a degree in international relations.
Class of 1994
Hala Gorani
An international news anchor and war correspondent who reported from the Arab Spring, Syria and Ukraine, and won Emmy, Peabody and Edward R. Murrow awards. She took her bachelor's in economics at Mason and wrote for the student newspaper before Sciences Po in Paris.
Dayton Moore
General manager of the Kansas City Royals from 2006 to 2021, who rebuilt the franchise into back-to-back World Series teams and won the 2015 title. He earned his bachelor's in physical education and health at Mason in 1989 and a master's in athletic administration here in 1992.
Class of 1989
Alan Webb
Held the American record in the mile for 16 years with a 3:46.91 run in Belgium in 2007, breaking a mark that had stood since 1982. A Northern Virginia native, he ran collegiately at Michigan before continuing his college education at Mason as a professional.
Alumni selected for name recognition and range of fields. Not from the Common Data Set.
Traditions
Traditions
Painting the Benches
The benches along the walkways between Fenwick Library, Horizon Hall and Krug Hall have been decorated by student groups for more than fifty years. More than 350 organizations now compete for the right to paint one with their own name, emblem and colors, which makes the quad a running visual census of student life.
Rubbing George's Toe
The statue of George Mason IV on campus carries a small library of superstitions — rubbing his toes for luck before an exam, posing with him in a graduation gown, and never stepping on the plaque at his feet. Student groups dress him for holidays, game days and causes throughout the year.
Mason Madness and the Green Machine
Mason Madness has opened the men's and women's basketball seasons since 2008, and the Green Machine pep band — formed in the wake of the 2006 Final Four run and later named the top pep band in college basketball — plays it, along with Capitals, Wizards and Nationals games around the region.
Weekend escapes from Fairfax
Weekend Escapes
Within driving distance from Fairfax
Washington, D.C.
35 minutesThe Orange Line from Vienna, reachable by university shuttle, is the sane option over driving and parking. Free Smithsonian museums, the monuments, and the internship and interview circuit.
Shenandoah National Park
1 hour 20 minutesSkyline Drive, Old Rag and the Blue Ridge overlooks, straight west on I-66. The closest real wilderness to campus.
Annapolis & the Chesapeake Bay
1 hour 15 minutesThe Naval Academy, the waterfront and crab houses on the bay, once you clear the Beltway.
Harpers Ferry, WV
1 hour 15 minutesWhere the Shenandoah meets the Potomac — Appalachian Trail access, rafting and a preserved 19th-century town, also reachable by MARC train.
Getting there and game days
Getting There & Game Days
Nearest airport
Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)
25 minutes from campus
Flies international — you can start a trip abroad from here.
Pro sports nearby
- Washington Commanders NFL
- Washington Capitals NHL
- Washington Wizards NBA
- Washington Nationals MLB
- D.C. United MLS
Internships and jobs nearby
Career Proximity
Few campuses sit closer to as much hiring. Northern Virginia holds the densest concentration of federal contractors and cleared technical work in the country, and Mason is in the middle of it: Booz Allen Hamilton, Leidos, Northrop Grumman and MITRE all have major Northern Virginia operations, Capital One and Freddie Mac are headquartered in McLean and Tysons, and Amazon's second headquarters is in Arlington. Add the federal agencies themselves — reachable on the Orange Line — and internships in policy, intelligence, cybersecurity and defense are commutable rather than requiring a summer relocation. Inova, the region's largest health system, anchors the health-care side. The practical consequence is that many Mason students intern during the semester, not just the summer.
Top Industries Nearby
Major Employers
- Booz Allen Hamilton
- Capital One
- Amazon
- Leidos
- Inova Health System
Tysons and Arlington are 20–30 minutes north; downtown Washington is about 18 miles east on the Orange Line
Who thrives here
Who Thrives Here
George Mason is a 28,862-undergraduate public university on 677 wooded acres in Fairfax, and how its students live is the first thing to understand: 18.1% are in university housing, so roughly four in five commute from Northern Virginia or rent nearby. Greek life is close to absent — 3.2% of men and 2.7% of women join — and the social center of gravity is the quad where student organizations compete to paint their own bench, plus Mason Madness and the Green Machine pep band. It is also genuinely plural: no racial or ethnic group forms a majority, with white students at 30.4%, Asian at 23.0% and Hispanic at 18.4%. The trade-offs are time and money. 45.7% finish in four years against 66.5% in six, and that extra year carries its own tuition; Mason also meets 58.4% of demonstrated need, well short of what a family reading an $18,240 in-state price might expect. What it buys is a 17:1 student-faculty ratio and a campus 18 miles from Washington, inside a job market few public universities sit closer to.