Several George Mason University academic units have placed near the top in their fields according to new rankings from Graduate Programs’ 2016 Top Graduate Programs survey.
George Mason, with more than 11,000 graduate students in 127 degree programs, is Virginia’s largest research university and this year was named one of 115 top-tier “Research 1” schools in the United States by the Carnegie Classification.
Mason was also named a “best buy” in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2017. Fiske rated 21 public universities as falling into the “inexpensive or moderate price category, and most have four- or five-star academic ratings.”
The annual Graduate Programs rankings represent graduate degrees in more than 35 subjects taught at more than 300 U.S. universities and colleges. Schools are rated by students and graduates on aspects such as quality of instruction, student diversity, campus safety and return on investment.
Overall, 95 percent of those surveyed recommended Mason’s graduate programs and gave high ratings to such important details as campus safety, career advising, quality of instruction, student diversity, networking opportunities and satisfaction with degree.
“Choosing the right graduate program involves weighing many factors: quality of the faculty, rank of the school, location, career outcomes, affordability and access, and overall quality of life. Students consider rankings in their decisions knowing that they are just one factor among many,” said David Burge, vice president for enrollment management at Mason.
Mason’s history program was ranked 6th out of 16 programs, the public administration program was 12th out of 17; the biomedical science program was ranked 12 out of 23; public policy was ranked 14 out of 25; education was 15 out of 50; engineering was 16th out of 25 programs; computer science was 17 out of 22; and counseling was 26 out of 50 programs ranked.