Student Access

Mason Recreation receives daily updates from the GMU Registrar’s office concerning student enrollment status. Actively enrolled students have the opportunity to access the facilities prior to the first day of classes and after the last day of exams for each respective term.

  • Fall Semester Dates: August 16th through December 31st
  • Spring Semester Dates: January 1st through May 15th
  • Summer Semester Dates: May 16th through August 15th
    • Students who are considered “Part – Time” (Half-Time (HT) or Less than Half Time (LT)) any academic term may access the Mason Recreation facilities during this period for $55.
    • Payment type accepted: Cash, check, VISA or MasterCard at the customer service desk of the Aquatic & Fitness Center, RAC, or Skyline.
  • Students who wish to access the Mason Recreation facilities during the terms listed below must be enrolled in either a full or part-time capacity by the first day of the term. If a student does not have active course enrollment on the first day of the term, they are not eligible for student level access. For more detail about access to the facilities without active enrollment or if there are appears to be a discrepancy between your Registrar’s designation and your access privileges, please visit our Student Access FAQ page.

Full-time Students

  • Students who are classified as full-time by the Registrar’s office are permitted to use the Mason Recreation facilities free of charge.

Part-time Fees and Date Ranges

  • Students who are classified as part-time must pay a semester-based fee for access. Semester fees and the date ranges for access are listed below.
SemesterDate RangeCost
FallAugust 16 - December 31$55.00
Spring January 1 - May 15$55.00
*SummerMay 16 - August 15$30.00

*During the Summer Term, a course load of at least 1 credit is considered full-time by Mason Recreation and thus, access to the facilities is free of charge. If a student does not have any course enrollment for the Summer Term, but was enrolled in either a full-time or part-time capacity during the preceding Spring Term, a fee of $30 may be paid for access to the Mason Recreation facilities for that time period.

Non-Degree Seeking Students

The GMU Registrar’s office formally designates all non-degree students as part-time, regardless of course load. Mason Recreation permits non-degree students who are enrolled for at least 12 credits at the undergraduate level or 9 credits at the graduate level to access its facilities without any extra charges during the Fall and Spring terms. Students who are below these thresholds are eligible to pay the part-time student fee for access. Like degree seeking students, non-degree students who are enrolled for at least 1 credit of coursework during the Summer term may enjoy access to the facilities at no extra charge.

  • For more detail about access to the facilities without active enrollment or if there are appears to be a discrepancy between your Registrar’s designation and your access privileges, please visit our Student Access FAQ page.

Summer Requirements

  • Students who are enrolled in any number of credits for any of the three summer sessions may receive free access to the Mason Recreation facilities. During this summer term, Mason Recreation does not distinguish between Full-Time and Part-Time.
  • Students who are not actively enrolled for any of the summer sessions, but were enrolled in the previous Spring academic term and are enrolled for the upcoming Fall academic term, may access the facilities during the summer for a fee of $30.
    • NOTE: Student’s for whom the upcoming Fall term is their first term at Mason will need to contact Mason Recreation Membership Coordinator in order to be entered into the access system database and then be required to pay the $30 fee.

PENDING FULL-TIME TIME-STATUS

  • During each of these three time periods, Mason Recreation bases free facility access on whether a student has an official time status of FT from the Registrar’s office. Since the transfer of data from the Registrar’s office to Mason Recreation only occurs once per day (around 2AM), changes to a student’s time-status made after 2AM are not recognized in the facility access system until the next day.
    • Example: If a student is officially listed as Part-Time (i.e. Registrar’s time-status of HT or LT) on Monday at 3PM and registers for a Full-Time course load at 4PM that day, Mason Recreation’s access system will not reflect that change until 2AM on the next day. If the student in this situation wishes to access the Mason Recreation facilities, they must inform the customer service assistant that they made the transition to Full-Time on that day.
  • The student is not permitted to access the Mason Recreation facilities free of charge until the issue is resolved.
  • There are many situations where a student’s time-status may not be converted to Full-Time for an extended period of time. Common examples of this are:
    • Student is wait listed for course. Wait listed courses do not count towards time-status.
    • Student is waiting on instructor or departmental approval for course enrollment.
    • Student is waiting on financial aid or scholarship money to complete course enrollment.
  • In these cases and other cases where current time status is Part-Time and Full-Time time-status is pending, Mason Recreation’s policy is to allow only one (1) free entrance. After that free entrance is used, if Full-Time time-status is still pending, the student must pay up front for access to the facilities ($10 per day, or $55 semester fee during Fall/Spring, or $30 summer fee during Summer).
  • These fees will be fully refunded if/when the student’s time-status changes to Full-Time. Once the student’s time-status changes to Full-Time, he or she should contact Membership Services to initiate the refund process.
  • Persons who have no active enrollment at the time of visiting the Mason Recreation facilities, but pending Part-Time or Full-Time time status, may use the one free entrance, but may sponsor themselves and pay the $10 daily fee or appropriate membership fee* for any subsequent access when time-status is not resolved.
    • *The Part-Time student fee may not be paid/purchased when time-status is inactive.

TIME STATUS EXCEPTIONS

There are some situations when a student’s time status may officially be Part-Time (HT or LT) but Mason Recreation will waive the Part-Time student fee. These situations and any additional actions needed by the student are listed below:

  • The student is at the end of their degree program and needs less than a full-time course load to complete their degree. Students in this situation should speak with their adviser or program coordinator to have them send confirmation of graduation following completion of the current semester to our Membership Coordinator. This is a one-time membership override registration and cannot be renewed or re-registered.
  • The student has a program or departmental restriction on course load. Some departments place limits on the number of credits that a student can enroll in because of the work load of extracurricular on non-credit requirements (example: student teaching). If a student is on departmental or program restriction, that student should speak with their adviser or program coordinator to have them send confirmation to our Membership Coordinator.
  • The student selectively withdraws from coursework. Students who had a full-time course load after the last day to drop classes and then utilized the selective withdrawal option (received no tuition reimbursement) may have the part-time student fee waived. Students who may be in this situation should contact our Membership Coordinator.
    • NOTE: This is the only case in which Mason Recreation will permit a person with no active time-status to pay a Part-Time student fee.
  • Senior citizens auditing coursework. Senior citizens who are auditing coursework as non-degree students and are not paying tuition fees may have the Part-Time student fee waived. Students in this situation should contact Mason Recreation Membership Coordinator at the beginning of each term that they are enrolled.
  • Graduate students taking undergraduate courses. Graduate students who have less than 9 graduate course credits but 9 or more total credits (e.g. 6 graduate credits and 3 undergraduate credits) will have an official time status of HT. However, Mason Recreation will waive the Part-Time fee in these cases. Students in this situation should contact Mason Recreation Membership Coordinator.

FACULTY/STAFF MEMBERS WHO ARE ALSO TAKING CLASSES

  • In Mason Recreation’s facility access database, Faculty/Staff status always supersedes student status for an individual’s display profile. However, there are situations where a person who is both Faculty/Staff and a student can opt for the student-level access (free for Full-Time or $55 for Part-Time)
  • Actively employed full-time and part-time GMU Faculty/Staff members who are also taking classes (as part of a degree program or non-degree) are subject to the Faculty/Staff membership rate if they are utilizing an employee tuition waiver for their tuition.
  • Faculty/Staff members who are paying their own tuition or whose tuition is being paid by a grant, may opt for the student option which is appropriate for their time status. Persons in this situation should contact Mason Recreation Membership Coordinator.

GRADUATE TEACHING/RESEARCH ASSISTANTS

Excerpt from University Catalog Section AP.6.2 Full-Time Classification

“Graduate students are considered full time if they are enrolled in at least 9 graduate credits per semester or hold a full-time assistantship (total 20 hours a week) and are enrolled in at least 6 graduate credits per semester.”

  • In these cases and other cases where current time status is Part-Time and Full-Time time-status is pending, Mason Recreation’s policy is to allow only one (1) free entrance. After that free entrance is used, if Full-Time time-status is still pending, the student must pay up front for access to the facilities ($10 per day, or $55 semester fee during Fall/Spring, or $30 summer fee during Summer).
  • These fees will be fully refunded if/when the student’s time-status changes to Full-Time. Once the student’s time-status changes to Full-Time, he or she should contact our Membership Coordinator to initiate the refund process.

DOCTORAL STUDENTS

  • Prior to their Dissertation Proposal phase or Candidacy, Doctoral students must have a course load of 9 credits in order to have a Full-Time time-status.
  • Doctoral students who are enrolled in dissertation credits (either 998 or 999) are considered full time if they are enrolled in at least 6 credits per semester, regardless of whether they hold an assistantship.
  • Doctoral students who have advanced to candidacy and have completed the minimum number of credits required by the university and their degree program, including the minimum number of credits of 998 and 999, are considered full time if they are registered for at least 1 credit of 999 and the student along with their adviser and department chair certify each semester that they are working full time on the dissertation. IMPORTANT: The Doctoral Dissertation Research Full-Time Equivalent Status Form linked above requires a Dean’s signature, which may take an extended period of time to get. If you are a Doctoral Student who has not submitted this form or is just now submitting the form and you would like to use the Mason Recreation facilities immediately, please consult Mason Recreation’s policy on Pending Time status.
  • In these cases and other cases where current time status is Part-Time and Full-Time time-status is pending, the student must pay up front for access to the facilities ($10 per day, or $55 semester fee during Fall/Spring, or $30 summer fee during Summer).
  • These fees will be fully refunded if/when the student’s time-status changes to Full-Time. Once the student’s time-status changes to Full-Time, he or she should contact our Membership Coordinator to initiate the refund process.

FAMILY MEMBERS OF STUDENTS

Access to all of the Mason Recreation facilities for the semester of enrollment. The enrolled student must be a full-time student or have already paid for the part-time fee in order to access the Mason Rec facilities.

MembershipSemesterPrice
Additional Adult MemberFall/Spring$135.00
Summer$90.00
MinorFall / Spring $50.00
Summer$30.00

Additional Member

  • The prospective member must provide proof of legal residency of the same household as the sponsoring Student with valid access. See Proof of Address page for acceptable documents.

Parking Permits

  • Additional Members who are at least 16 years old, and can provide a valid driver’s license are eligible to purchase a General Lot parking permit with the purchase of a semester membership at $15.

Membership Fee Payment

  • Semester membership fees must be paid in full at the time of enrollment. Mason Recreation accepts cash (USD), personal check, VISA and MasterCard for membership fee payment.

Terms and Conditions

  • For more terms and conditions of membership, including information on cancellation of annual and monthly memberships, please visit our Terms & Conditions page.