Mason is a top-50 public university

George Mason University was ranked No. 49 nationally among public universities in Forbes’ latest evaluations.

A total of 251 institutions were ranked.

“Mason is serious about its mission as a public research university,” Provost S. David Wu said. “Not only do we provide access to higher education, we provide excellence in a diverse environment that allows young adults to grow into innovators and aspiring leaders with the ability to make meaningful contributions that impact our lives.”

According to its website, Forbes used data from the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard and Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, PayScale and Niche, a privately owned site that aggregates millions of student surveys.

Mason was also ranked 231st nationally in the latest Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings, up 43 positions from last year’s evaluations.

The survey explores four key areas: resources, engagement, outcomes and environment, and uses data from the U.S. government’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, the U.S. Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid center, College Scorecard and Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Times Higher Education Student Survey.

BestColleges.com also ranked Mason 9th on its list of top Virginia colleges. See the rankings here.