ASSIP Tuition and Fees
NEW College Credit for Participation
After two years of pilot programming, and excellent reviews, we are rolling out university course credit for participation in ASSIP. The tuition cost is $1299 for each accepted intern, based George Mason University’s 2025-2026 regular undergraduate tuition.
ASSIP Tuition and Fees
In previous years, we’ve heard frequent feedback from interns that they are not sure how best to represent their ASSIP internship experience when applying for college or to other subsequent research internship positions. Due to data confidentiality expected in preliminary research contexts, full results of intern’s summer projects (beyond abstracts) are presented only during our research symposium and are not made publicly available (browse previous intern’s abstracts, providing summaries of our intern’s hard work). The quality and quantity of work conducted by ASSIP interns over the summer term is equivalent to what we already award course credit towards in George Mason’s College of Science for undergraduate research semesters. For this reason, we’ve extended that opportunity to ASSIP interns, where your hard work on your research projects during ASSIP translates into course credits. With University course credit, you can share a transcript and your earned course grade with other colleges or internships that you may decide to apply for in the future. Successful completion of the ASSIP program will now include credits that you can retain at George Mason, or transfer to the college or university of your choice.
Frequently Asked Questions regarding ASSIP Tuition
What is the cost to participate in ASSIP, if accepted?
Accepted interns secure their position in ASSIP by paying George Mason University tuition of $1299 for three college course credits. This reflects the regular 2025-2026 undergraduate tuition rate at George Mason of $433/credit hour. However, unlike an ordinary student at George Mason, we have negotiated to waive other per-credit mandatory fees that are normally levied, such that your total cost for this course is less than a traditional George Mason undergraduate would be charged.
What does this cost cover?
In addition to standard administrative and teaching costs included in tuition, your tuition covers project-specific required materials, including research supplies, perishable materials, computing resources, new software packages, etc. Your tuition directly provides faculty mentors with research budgets prior to your arrival to ensure that they have time to purchase all of the materials you will need for your project in advance. Weekly didactic training modules as part of the course credit will introduce you to topics including how to review the scientific literature in your field, how to write scientific abstracts, how research discoveries are patented, or how to use AI responsibly in a research context.
Can tuition be waived for financial need?
Yes. In the same way that we will waive your application fee for financial need, we are happy to waive your tuition for financial need as well. You qualify for 100% waived tuition in ASSIP if you are on free/reduced lunch at your high school or receive any amount of Pell Grant aid for college. Reach out to cosassip@gmu.edu to share your eligibility and documents showing your receipt of free/reduced lunch (often, a letter from your school district) or Pell Grant receipt. If you are in a school district that provides automatic free lunch for all students regardless of need, but believe that you may still qualify for free tuition based on your family’s financial situation, please reach out to cosassip@gmu.edu to discuss options. We can chat about alterative documentation we can accept to determine if you qualify for free tuition.
Are there any scholarships available?
At present, we do not have any additional scholarships available beyond waivers for financial need discussed above. If you do not qualify for the financial need waiver due to lack of meeting the specific criteria above, but still find that tuition for this course is out of reach for your family, please contact us at cosassip@gmu.edu to discuss your situation. We do not want anyone who is accepted to the program on the strength of their application to find themselves unable to join us for ASSIP 2026 due to tuition burden.
What if I am a remote intern? Do I pay a different tuition rate?
No. All interns, whether remote, hybrid, or in-person, will have access to synchronous didactic training, research budgets, institutional resources, and final poster session events. For remote interns, a separate fully remote final poster session experience is designed specifically for you.
What if I am an out-of-state intern? Do I pay a different tuition rate?
No. The total tuition cost is the same for all students, whether or not your home address is in Virginia. Because of the unique nature of this internship program, we’ve received permission to charge a flat tuition fee regardless of domicile.
What if I am already a student at George Mason? What if I am already a student at another college?
If you are a George Mason student, and you are accepted into the ASSIP program, you will participate for course credit just like all of our other interns, though with reduced in-processing paperwork. You will be levied the same reduced price as our other interns. If your degree program has a specific internship course that you believe ASSIP could fulfill, reach out to cosassip@gmu.edu to talk about suitability and options for course substitution. If you are a student at another university, and you are accepted into the ASSIP program, you will participate for course credit just like all of our other interns. You will be able to transfer your credit to your own institution upon completion of the ASSIP program.
Can course credit earned at George Mason through ASSIP be transferred to another university?
Yes, although George Mason cannot guarantee what any individual institution will “name” the course, or what degree programs or requirements it may or may not fulfill at any other institution. We are happy to provide course descriptions, syllabi, or other materials to allow another institution to decide what course in their own catalog your ASSIP experience best matches. Another institution may choose to transfer the credit in as an elective credit or an internship credit. If you attend another institution in Virginia, you can use TransferVirginia to see how this course has been transferred to some other institutions in the Commonwealth. If you attend or plan to attend an institution outside Virginia, you can use Transferology to check if other institutions in the Transferology network have documented how they might transfer in this course. The Admissions department at any other institution is the final arbitrator of how a course will be transferred.
Is this the same as a dual-enrollment credit if I am in high school?
No. If you are a high-school intern, course credit earned through participation in ASSIP is not transferred back to your high school, does not impact your high school GPA, and must be transferred to whatever institution you attend for your undergraduate studies. (If you choose to attend George Mason for your undergraduate degree, you will not have to transfer this credit; we will already have those credits on file for you.)
What would a transcript show for participation in ASSIP?
A transcript will show completion of 3 credits of a course entitled “COS120: Introduction to Research”. This course is an independent study course, culminating in a research presentation, that is graded on the university undergraduate regular scale (A/B/C/D/F). View the course catalog description for this course.
How do I become enrolled at George Mason to earn these college credits? Do I have to apply to George Mason?
If you are accepted as an ASSIP intern, and are not already a George Mason student, part of your in-processing paperwork will include submission of transcripts and a non-degree application to George Mason. You will be guided through this paperwork as part of completing your in-processing paperwork packets in the spring, prior to joining us over the summer.
Can I participate in ASSIP without the course credit?
No. To ensure that all interns can be provided with the same level of institutional access and resources at George Mason, all interns are required to participate in ASSIP for course credit. If you are concerned that the tuition burden is not feasible for your family, we can waive tuition in some circumstances (see “Can tuition be waived for financial need?”) Reach out to us at cosassip@gmu.edu to discuss your options for tuition waiver.