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Overview

Academic Experience

The Mason LIFE Program offers a variety of classes. Below are the courses that are being offered for the Spring '08 semester:

  • Astronomy
  • Blackboard Support
  • Citizenship
  • Community Access
  • Employment Opportunities
  • Exploratory Mathematics Time & Measurement
  • Featured Writing-Short Stories with a Moral
  • Fitness & Well-Being
  • Horticulture
  • Independent Living-Nutrition
  • Medical & Self-Care Management
  • Multi-Media Analysis I
  • Non-Fiction I-Folklore and Fables
  • Self-Advocacy & Leadership
  • Theatre Arts II
  • Virginia History
  • Visual Arts
  • Yearbook II

Program Details

The Mason LIFE Program is located at the George Mason University Fairfax campus.  Classes follow the Mason academic calendar schedule. Students will receive a certificate upon completion of the program. Our instructor/student ratios is 1:4.

The Mason LIFE Program is designed to be a four-year program. Students attend classes from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, Monday through Friday. Students may have the option of living in the residence halls. Students will return home one weekend a month and during breaks. Our residential assistant/student ratio is 1:3.

Students must be between the ages of 18-23 at the start of their program.

Cost

  • For the 2007-2008 academic year:
    • Tuition is $8,250 per semester
    • Residential rates are 3,500 per semester

Student Information

Who are Mason LIFE Students?

Since the Mason LIFE program is a non-categorical inclusive model, our current students vary greatly in terms of their abilities and disabilities. Most Mason LIFE students have cognitive challenges such as significant learning disabilities, mild mental retardation, mild autism, Asperger's Syndrome, or TBI. They may experience sensory or mobility impairments as well. Our students behave appropriately for university learning and have the desire to be in a social but academically supported setting.

Mason LIFE students have a great deal of freedom on campus, and our expectation is that they will negotiate transitions between classrooms and buildings, meals, and non-academic activities independently and unsupervised after initial orientation training.

Students typically apply to the Mason LIFE Program because they desire to:

  • Take specially designed courses that will help increase reading, writing, math, technology, independent living, and vocational skills
  • Learn more about themselves and the world around
  • Become part of the social fabric within a university environment

Timeline for acceptance in the Mason LIFE Program

Information session was held on November 29, 2007 from 7-8pm on the Fairfax Campus

  • Applications that are completed by January 1st 2008 get priority in the review process.
  • Interviews are held in February of 2008
  • Participation in trial day during March/April of 2008
  • Final decisions are made by May 1st. Deposits are due to hold the slot.
  • The Mason LIFE Program has about a 23% acceptance rate. Of the 30 applicants a year, 15 will be interviewed. Of the 15, 10 students will be asked for a trial day. Of the 10, 6-8 will be accepted into the program for Fall of 2008.

Our next Information session will be on November 20, 2008