Schar School of Policy and Government

The Schar School of Policy and Government - SSPG (formerly the George Mason University School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs - SPGIA), is the public policy school of George Mason University, a public research university in the Commonwealth of Virginia near Washington, D.C. Established as Northern Virginia's first public policy school with locations in Arlington and Fairfax County, the school's political science curriculum has a professional education and applied emphasis on public administration and national security at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, in addition to a traditional liberal arts education, while also maintaining an active role within all five major subfields of political science known as political philosophy, political methodology, comparative politics, international relations, public policy and public administration.

The Schar School is accredited by the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration and is a member of the Transatlantic Policy Consortium for its education programs in public policy and public administration; for its education programs in international relations it is accredited by the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA) . It receives approximately $2 million in sponsored funding for academic research annually. The school's budget was $18 million for the 2019–2020 academic year.