George Mason University President Gregory Washington leads the only public doctoral university in Virginia—and one of just five very large public universities in the nation—designated by the Carnegie Foundation and American Council on Education (ACE) in the highest tier of Opportunity Colleges and Universities for its combination of Higher Access, Higher Earnings and being a top research university.
George Mason, the state’s largest public university with an enrollment of more than 40,700, is ranked by U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Colleges 2026” as the top public university in Virginia, and in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan region, for upward mobility. Forbes ranks George Mason as a top 50 public university nationally, and George Mason is Washington Monthly’s “Best Bang for the Buck” in Virginia.
In fall 2025, George Mason welcomed its largest incoming class of new undergraduates, about 70% of whom entered with a 3.5 GPA or higher. The university’s 2025 graduating class featured the most degree earners in George Mason history, more than 11,400 students hailing from 117 countries and 49 states.
In 2024, the Wall Street Journal ranked George Mason among its top 30 public universities nationally and U.S. News & World Report ranked George Mason as the top public university in the state for innovation, upward mobility, and internships. In addition, the Wall Street Journal that year ranked George Mason tops in the state for value and upward mobility.
Since arriving at George Mason in July 2020, Washington, the university’s eighth president, has formed new partnerships, created academic and entrepreneurial pathways, opened or broken ground on academic facilities on all three Virginia campuses across the university’s 848 acres, launched programs to reskill and upskill the workforce, presided over the highest sponsored research expenditures in George Mason history and overseen five of the university’s top six philanthropic years.
In fall 2025, Washington announced the university’s Grand Challenge Initiative to focus the university’s research expertise on solutions to pressing global issues. On George Mason’s campus in Arlington, known as Mason Square, Washington marshaled the largest public-private partnership in George Mason’s history, Fuse at Mason Square, which marked its grand opening in September 2025. In spring 2025, the Life Sciences and Engineering Building opened on the Science and Technology Campus in Manassas.
In fall 2023, Washington was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering.
