To participate in this program, I understand that I am responsible for paying the application fee and full advertised program cost to the George Mason University Global Education Office (GEO) according to the policies below.
Application Submission & Deposit:
A non-refundable application fee of $200 is due to finalize submission of an application for all GEO programs except Build Your Own Internship and Global Career Accelerator programs. Your application will not be considered complete until the $200 application fee is received. The $200 fee is made through your application in MasonAbroad and is non-refundable.
Application deadlines for all GEO programs except internships are:
Direct Enroll or Bilateral Exchange Programs for all terms including summer, academic year, fall semester, spring semester and/or calendar year
| March 1 |
Summer and Fall Semester Faculty-led Programs
| March 1 |
Winter Break and Spring Semester Faculty-led Programs
| October 1 |
Spring Break Faculty-led Programs | November 1
|
Note: Select faculty-led programs may have earlier deadlines based on in-country scheduling needs. These earlier deadlines are communicated on the affected programs’ brochure pages and supersede the deadlines listed above.
Application deadlines for GEO internship and Global Career Accelerator programs are:
Summer: Partner Virtual, Hybrid, and Travel Programs
Build Your Own
Global Career Accelerator
|
Berlin, Cape Town, London, Singapore: January 15 All others: February 1
March 1
April 21 |
Winter Break and Spring Semester: Partner Virtual, Hybrid, Travel Programs and Build Your Own
Global Career Accelerator (Spring semester) |
October 1
November 15
|
Fall Semester: Partner Virtual, Hybrid, Travel Programs and Build Your Own
Global Career Accelerator
|
March 1
July 25 |
Program Commitment:
Applicants will be notified by GEO of the outcome of their program application. Upon acceptance to a program, you will be required to click the “commit” button to confirm your enrollment in the program by the date specified by the program administrator. Failure to commit by the required deadline will forfeit your spot in the program.
A non-refundable administrative fee of $300 for semester-long and $500 for year-long Exchange Program applicants is due at time of commitment. The administrative fee is made through your application in MasonAbroad. These fees are not applicable to other GEO programs.
Applicants who decline their acceptance to their GEO program will not receive a refund of the application fee. The $200 credit for the fee paid through your MasonAbroad application will be placed on your GMU student account with an equivalent $200 GEO program charge.
Withdrawal after commitment for all GEO programs except Global Career Accelerator Program: Once you have been accepted to your program and have committed to participate, you agree to pay a $1,000 withdrawal penalty and any GEO non-recoverable costs if you later withdraw from the program. Depending on your withdrawal date, the non-recoverable costs could be the full program cost. DO NOT commit to the program until you are sure of your intent to participate and are ready to accept all financial obligations related to your participation in the program. Students who withdraw from an exchange program after paying their non-refundable administrative fee will have the $300 or $500 payment applied to their withdrawal penalty.
100% Liability dates for withdrawal after commitment: It you withdraw or cancel your participation from your program, voluntarily or involuntarily (including dismissal from the program), after the following dates, you will be 100% liable for program costs:
Program Term | 100% Liability Date |
Fall Semester & Fall Semester of Academic and Calendar Year Programs | June 25 |
Fall Partner Internship Programs | June 25 |
Fall Build Your Own Internship Programs | August 1 |
Winter Break Programs | November 10 |
Spring Semester Faculty-led Programs | November 10 |
Winter Break Build Your Own Internship Programs | December 1 |
Spring Semester & Spring Semester of Academic and Calendar Year (Direct Enroll and Exchange Programs) | December 10 |
Spring Partner Internship Programs | December 10 |
Spring Break Programs | December 10 |
Spring Build Your Own Internship Programs | January 1 |
Summer Programs | April 1 |
Summer Partner Internship Programs | April 1 |
Summer Build Your Own Internship Programs | May 1 |
Withdrawal after commitment for Global Career Accelerator Program: Do not commit to the program until you are sure of your intent to participate and are ready to accept all financial obligations related to your participation in the program. Once you have been accepted and have committed to participate in the Global Career Accelerator program, you will be assessed withdrawal fees according to the following schedule if you cancel/withdraw from the program for any reason voluntarily or involuntarily (including dismissal from Mason or the program):
After commitment to participate in the program, the student will be assessed a $200 withdrawal penalty.
After the last day to drop (100% Refund) deadline at George Mason University, students will be assessed a $1,800 withdrawal penalty.
After the start of the Unrestricted Withdrawal Period students are 100% liable for program costs.
More details about the GEO withdrawal policy are available here.
Payment of Program Fees:
The full cost of your GEO program will be posted to your George Mason student account by GEO after your commitment to the program. Your $200 application deposit will also appear on your account as a credit toward those program fees. Program fees and deposit credits are posted to accounts in July for programs beginning in fall semester; in January for winter break, spring break and spring semester programs; and in April for summer programs.
Payment for study abroad program fees are made by credit card or electronic check through the Mason Bill+Payment system or by check through the Mason Cashier’s Office. Mason Korea students can make payments via Flywire. For more information about GMU Student Accounts and making payment, see the Student Accounts Office website.
Note: George Mason University applies payments to outstanding charges first. If you have an outstanding balance your payments will first go to paying that balance. If this happens, you will still be responsible for the GEO charge.
Financial Aid:
In most cases, financial aid can be used for study abroad programs. If you plan to use federal, state, institutional financial aid, scholarships, grants or loans to finance your study abroad:
Mark “Yes” to “Do you plan to use Financial Aid to finance your program?” in your profile in MasonAbroad.gmu.edu.
Complete the Financial Aid questionnaire item in your application.
Schedule an appointment with your financial aid officer to review your financial aid package in light of your participation in study abroad.
Only the Office of Financial Aid can determine your aid eligibility.
Confirmation of your financial aid award may not be available until registration and billing for the term in question is final. If aid eligibility changes, or the amount of aid disbursed is lower than anticipated, you must pay all remaining account balances or risk late fees, holds on your account, and program dismissal.
For more information about the financial aid process, see the Financial Aid Services website.
VA Benefits:
Some GEO study abroad programs may be eligible for use of VA benefits. Information about eligibility can be found on the Financial Info page of a program’s brochure. The use of benefits is dependent on the type of benefit and type of program. The VA determines if a GEO study abroad program is eligible to receive VA benefit payments based on the participant’s VA education program. If you hope to use VA benefits to finance your study abroad program after having checked that it is an eligible program, contact your GEO program administrator at [MasonLed, GoIntern, IntlEx] to request the "Intent to Use VA Benefits Form." You will complete the form with the Office of Military Services, which can be reached by email at military@gmu.edu.
Financial Responsibility:
By committing to your Global Education Office (GEO) study abroad program, you accept full responsibility for coordinating timely payment for all program fees associated with your program and for following university procedures for financial aid, loan, and scholarship(s) disbursement. You are responsible for making payment of all account balances in accordance with the GMU Student Accounts Office payment schedule, and you will be responsible for all late fees and/or costs for collection of fees in accordance with standard University procedures. Non-payment of fees will jeopardize your continuing participation in the program and may result in withdrawal or dismissal; you will still be liable for costs in that case.
For signature version:
By electronically signing this statement, I certify that I have read and understand the above policies, as well as the GEO Withdrawal and Refund Policy, and agree to be bound thereby.
Updated February 2025