Mariam Aburdeineh

George Mason University has eight graduate programs listed among the top 25 nationally, according to the latest rankings by U.S. News & World Report, reflecting the university’s reputation of being a top institution for advanced degrees.

The list was led by Mason’s part-time law program at the Antonin Scalia Law School, which is No. 1 among public institutions, followed by industrial-organizational psychology at No. 5 nationally. Rounding out the list were Mason’s intellectual property program, three programs at the Schar School of Policy and Government, as well as special education and elementary teacher education at the College of Education and Human Development.

George Mason University has some of the nation’s best online master’s programs, with six of them in the Top 20, according to the just-released 2022 U.S. News & World Report Best Online Programs rankings.

Isidore Nsengiyumva, only four years old at the time, was in the fields with his father and older brother in Burundi, when suddenly they heard the sound of motors and guns. Troops involved in the country’s civil war attacked their village, and rapidly, their lives were changed.

“We hid in a bush, and when the noise of the guns and fighting subsided, we went back and found our home burned,” Nsengiyumva said. “That’s when my dad decided it was no longer safe.”

Growing up in the slums of Cameroon, Joseph Sany said he witnessed urban violence and police oppression regularly. He heard about genocide in Rwanda, and he saw more violence firsthand when he worked with NGOs and visited countries like Liberia and Sierra Leone during civil war.

Louie Al-Hashimi is driven by service. It started in high school, he said, when his history teacher encouraged him to get involved in community service and he began volunteering at a local food pantry, supporting road cleanup projects, and organizing school concerts for charity.

“That, coupled with my studies, encouraged me to pursue public service,” said Al-Hashimi, who earned his master’s in public administration from George Mason University in 2020. “Having the opportunity to build or facilitate a connection with other people—that’s what I’m drawn to.”