Letter from the President
Universities like to tout their individual rankings. We do our share of that here at George Mason University. But there was one broader accolade from this past year that might best tell our story: CNBC ranked Virginia as the top state in the country for education and business.
Let’s think about that for a moment: In the top state in the nation for education, George Mason is the largest public university, meeting the needs of more students and families than any of our state peers. In publications such as U.S. News & World Report and the Wall Street Journal, we earn No. 1 rankings among Virginia’s public universities for innovation, value, and upward mobility.
And in the top state in the nation for business, George Mason produces the most talent, including in high-demand fields, driving our region and state economy.
If you set out to build from scratch today what a great public research university should be, you’d produce a university like the one we have. George Mason University is one of the greatest human development initiatives in the history of the Commonwealth of Virginia and is indispensable to Northern Virginia—reaching more families and students of all backgrounds, helping more businesses, and supporting more vital government functions than any other entity in Northern Virginia.
Our state knows that what’s good for George Mason is great for Virginia. One reason is because our graduates stick around. According to analysis from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), some 73 percent of in-state George Mason graduates launch their careers in Virginia, as do 29 percent of out-of-state George Mason graduates. That out-of-state figure is 45 percent higher than the state average of 20 percent. George Mason attracts and keeps talent—and taxpayers—in Virginia.
The SCHEV analysis also shows that George Mason tops or leads most state peers in growth, opportunity, value, efficiency, return on investment, and state economic impact. We prepare the state’s workforce in high-demand fields—in the Class of 2024, 41 percent of undergraduates and 44 percent of graduate students earned degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and health sciences fields. Our Tech Talent Investment Program partnership with the state also prepares the tech workforce of tomorrow.
As you will learn in these pages, faculty at our top-tier research university are tackling the grand challenges of our time and are breaking ground in NASA research, artificial intelligence, national security, infectious diseases, and many other areas that will determine our ability to live on a thriving planet with thriving people, societies, and economies.
Partners from across our region and state are essential to the George Mason success story. They support the university through Mason Now: Power the Possible, a $1 billion comprehensive campaign geared toward student success, research, innovation, community, and stewardship.
Our many stakeholders know that George Mason University is rooted in Virginia. And that our achievements, and promise, are boundless.
GO, PATRIOTS!
Gregory Washington
President, George Mason University
