I stand
with mason
Since President Gregory Washington’s arrival in 2020, George Mason University has rapidly evolved into a national leader in a new class of leading American universities – those that offer top-quality academics while still offering broadly accessible and affordable admissions opportunities, and delivering on the promise of post-college career success for alumni.
It is Virginia’s only university to meet this new definition of university leadership.
The only major four-year university in Virginia to grow every year throughout the pandemic. Mason became the first university in Virginia history to enroll 40,000 in fall 2023, and it has risen since then. Enrollment has been properly managed. Student-to-faculty ratio has remained constant at 17:1.
The most academically prepared students (via GPA) have all entered the institution in each of the last five years. The largest cohort of new entering freshmen are now students with a 4.0 average or above (about 25%).
From 2020 to 2025, state appropriations grew from $190M to $366M. This is the largest increase in the university’s history and exceeds the cumulative increases from the last five Mason presidents combined.
President Washington has raised more than $100M every year since he has been at George Mason. Five of the six highest fundraising years in GMU’s history have occurred during his tenure, and that includes the highest industrial giving as well.
The biggest leaps in rankings of any Mason president have occurred under President Washington. From 2020 to 2025, Wall Street Journal Public University Rankings moved from 45 to 30 (overall from 186 to 76). U.S. News Public Institution rankings moved from #72 to #51 (overall from #153 to #109). We have increased rankings while remaining both a Top 20 campus for free speech (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) and an elite university for inclusivity (Campus Pride Index).
With entities like the Antonin Scalia Law School and the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution in close proximity to one another, we are one of the nation’s best universities for viewpoint diversity.
Since 2021, George Mason University has been ranked #1 in the nation for military service based on GI Bill participation and related data by College Factual.
Established Virginia’s first College of Public Health and School of Computing, and hired the first Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer for any Virginia university.
By 2025, the Carnegie Foundation bestowed on George Mason recognition as both highly accessible and excellent.
Mason is Virginia’s only university designated as both a top performer in research (R1 status) and opportunity (highly accessible with high alumni post-college career success). George Mason is one of 16 universities in America so designated, and one of 5 that serve very large student enrollments.
GMU won five A-10 Championships, including women’s and men’s basketball. President Washington hired both coaches, the latter without an athletic director (AD). He also hired the AD.
No deaths, low positivity rates, and research advanced solutions to hasten the end of the pandemic.
GMU admits more than 90% of the students who apply, graduates about 70% within 6 years, and has relatively little variance in graduation rate based on race, ethnicity, or economic status. Less than 1% of U.S. institutions nationally have similar outcomes. In addition, GMU graduated more than 11,400 students this past year – one of the largest graduation classes for a four-year institution in Virginia history. These students are among the highest paid in Virginia, and more than 73% remain in Virginia after graduation.