George Mason University is a public institution that was founded in 1972. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 20,653, its setting is suburban, and the campus size is 817 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. George Mason University's ranking in the 2014 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 141.

As a distributed university, George Mason University has several suburban campus locations, each not far from Washington, D.C. Freshmen are not required to live on campus, though traditional coed residence halls and suites are available at the school’s Fairfax, Va., campus for those who choose to live in university housing.