George Mason failed to monitor financial aid, committed violations

Download the Septemeber 2021 George Mason University Public Resolusion

George Mason committed multiple financial aid violations when it provided scholarships exceeding full cost of attendance, did not obtain required signatures when issuing scholarship renewal agreements, and improperly calculated scholarship equivalencies, according to an agreement released by the Division I Committee on Infractions. As a result of the violations, George Mason also failed to monitor the administration of its financial aid.

The NCAA enforcement staff and school agreed that, over the course of four academic years, the school improperly provided scholarships exceeding full cost of attendance on 27 occasions to 18 student-athletes in four sports, including women's basketball, men's basketball, women's volleyball and women's track and field. In total during this period, approximately $35,800 was awarded in impermissible scholarships. As a result of the impermissible scholarships, 17 of the student-athletes competed in 196 contests while ineligible.

The enforcement staff and school also agreed that during those same four academic years, the athletics department used the director of financial aid's electronic signature to sign scholarship agreements without formally requesting permission or approval. Because the director of financial aid did not review or sign the agreements, the agreements violated NCAA rules that require a signature from the school's regular financial aid authority.

According to the agreement, in the 2018-19 academic year, the school also improperly calculated equivalencies in men's volleyball when it incorrectly logged countable nonathletics scholarships, resulting in the team exceeding scholarship limits. 

As a result of the financial aid violations, the school and the enforcement staff agreed that George Mason failed to monitor its administration of financial aid. Specifically, the school did not implement monitoring systems to discover miscalculations, did not obtain required signatures from the school's financial aid authority, and did not adequately educate compliance and financial aid staff on NCAA rules so they could appropriately monitor athletics aid.

This case was processed through the negotiated resolution process. The process was used instead of a formal hearing or summary disposition because the university and the enforcement staff agreed on the violations and the penalties. The Division I Committee on Infractions reviewed the case to determine whether the resolution was in the best interests of the Association and whether the agreed-upon penalties were reasonable. Negotiated resolutions may not be appealed and do not set case precedent for other infractions cases.

The committee prescribed the following penalties and corrective measures:

• One year of probation.
• A $5,000 fine.
• A reduction of 0.44 scholarships (10%) in men's volleyball over the 2021-22 and 2022-23 academic years.
• Required attendance at a Regional Rules Seminar by July 2022 for select staff in the financial aid department.
• A vacation of all records in which student-athletes competed while ineligible. The university must provide a written report containing the contests impacted to the NCAA media coordination and statistics staff within 14 days of the public release of the decision.

Members of the Committee on Infractions are drawn from NCAA member schools and conferences and members of the public. The committee members who reviewed this case are Carol Cartwright, president emeritus at Bowling Green and Kent State and chief hearing officer for the panel; Kendra Greene, senior associate athletics director and senior woman administrator at North Carolina Central; and Joe Novak, former football head coach at Northern Illinois.