- Located in Fairfax, Virginia, 15 miles from Washington, D.C.
- Largest public research university in Virginia, with more than 38,000 students
- President: Gregory Washington
- Independent since 1972, after serving as a branch college of University of Virginia from 1957-72
- One of 131 U.S. universities to receive highest research designation from Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education
- Two Nobel Prizes in Economics (James Buchanan in 1986, Vernon Smith in 2002)
- One of four Virginia institutions ranked among top 100 universities in U.S., and top 300 universities in world, by ShanghaiRanking Consultancy’s Academic Ranking of World Universities
- More than half of Mason’s undergraduates are students of color, and Mason exceeds national graduation rates regardless of race, ethnicity or wealth status
- Ranked most diverse university in Virginia, and 25th-most diverse in country, by U.S. News & World Report
- About 1 in 3 undergraduates are first in family to earn four-year degree
- Mason in top three public universities in state for highest starting salaries
- Student loan default rate of 2.1% less than one-third of national average
- Motto: Freedom and Learning
- 82 undergraduate programs, 89 master’s, 39 doctoral, law
- Students from 130 countries, 50 states
- Campuses in Arlington, Virginia and Manassas, Virginia
- More than 200,000 alumni
- Information: www.gmu.edu, 703-993-1000
