George Mason University supports Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s intent to help Virginia families combat high inflation. For similar reasons, Mason froze in-state tuition for undergraduates for the 2021-22 academic year while increasing financial aid, in order to counteract the negative economic impacts of the pandemic.
As the statutory body with the sole authority to set student tuition and fees, Mason’s Board of Visitors held a special meeting on June 29, 2022 to consider the Governor’s request that the modest 3 percent 2022-23 tuition increase be rolled back to 2021-22 levels for in-state undergraduates. Board members voted to appoint a four-member special committee of the board to examine and report back in December 2022 their recommendations on tuition levels for the remainder of the 2022-23 academic year. Rector Jimmy Hazel said he would appoint one committee member from among Youngkin’s new appointees to the Board of Visitors.
Despite being Virginia’s largest public research university, Mason already receives less state funding than all but one of Virginia’s other five doctoral institutions, while operating in the most expensive and competitive labor market in the Commonwealth. Mason is Virginia’s only public university based in the Washington, D.C. market.
As a result, Mason faces an ongoing loss of talent in most units due to our inability to pay competitive wages, and is absorbing substantial unfunded inflationary increases in operating expenses. This impacts the quality of education of all our students.
Despite the challenges, Mason continues to strive to maintain a world-class academic experience for its students.