Transfer of Credit - Course Waiver
Students who have previously completed course work at another university and wish to apply that course work to the master’s or doctoral degree may request to have that course work reviewed by the Economics Graduate Studies Office for a transfer of credit and/or a course waiver.
Note that all students are required to take the micro and macro sequence of core courses, even if they have taken similar courses at another institution. Exceptions will not be granted.
Transfer of Credit
Transfer credits can apply to both MA and PhD students. Graduate credit earned prior to admission to the master’s or doctoral program may be eligible to be transferred into the program and applied to the degree.
To be eligible for transfer credit, the credit must be graduate credit earned at another accredited university or earned at Mason while in nondegree status. The credit must have been earned within ten years prior to first enrollment as an admitted degree-seeking student, and a minimum grade of A (4.00) must have been earned.
A transfer of credit will be applied to satisfy electives coursework requirements. MA students are allowed a maximum of 12 credit hours of transfer credit.
All students must complete the micro and macro theory course sequences even if they have taken similar courses at another institution. Exceptions will not be granted.
PhD students who are awarded more than 12 credit hours of transfer credit from another accredited university are not eligible to confer an MA degree at George Mason University while pursuing the doctoral degree. The maximum number of Mason non-degree graduate credits that can be transferred into the PhD Economics degree is 12 credit hours.
The department reserves the right to determine the eligibility of transferable courses and credits. Transfer credit evaluations are final and subject to the maximum allowable limit.
Requesting ANY Transfer of Credit
Students interested in requesting a transfer of credit should FIRST CONTACT A GRADUATE ACADEMIC ADVISOR (reach Valerie Sasser at econgrad@gmu.edu) and provide a copy of their official transcript showing the courses to be transferred for approval by the Director of Graduate Studies. It is also helpful for students to provide a copy of the syllabus and any other information about the course (e.g., copies of the catalog or course description from the university website). Graduate Transfer of Credit requests will not be approved or processed without the student's official transcript.
Once the Director of Graduate Studies approves the initial request, the academic advisor will submit an online Graduate Transfer of Credit Request form listing the approved courses and credits. The student then receives the form for review and approval. With student approval, the form is forwarded to the Director of Graduate Studies for final departmental approval. The CHSS Office of Graduate Academic Affairs will also review the credits for approval. With Dean's approval, the form is sent to the Registrar’s Office for final review and processing.
The credits will show on the student’s Patriot Web transcript after the transfer request is processed by the Registrar’s Office. For newly admitted students, transfer of credit requests will not be processed until after the last day to drop in the first semester of enrollment (approximately six weeks into the semester).
INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE CREDITS: Please provide an official course-by-course evaluation of the graduate transcript.
How to Transfer Coursework Completed at Another University
Students who have previously completed coursework at another University and wish to apply that coursework to a Mason degree should carefully review the university policies governing transfer of credit.
INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE CREDITS: Please provide an official course-by-course evaluation of the graduate transcript.
How to Transfer Coursework Completed as a Non-degree Student
Students who have completed coursework in graduate non-degree status and wish to apply that coursework to a Mason degree should carefully review the university policies governing transfer of credit.
Graduate Transfer of Credit Request Form
Course Waiver
Students can petition the Graduate Studies Office for a waiver of Mathematical Economics (ECON 630) for MA students, Applied Econometrics (ECON 535) for MA students, or Econometrics (ECON 637) for PhD students, Mathematical Economics (ECON 830) for PhD students. The petition for waiver is based on previous course work completed at another accredited university or earned at Mason as a non-degree seeking student. The previous course work must be approved by the Graduate Studies Office to ensure sufficient equivalency to the Mason courses. In addition, the student must have received a grade of A (4.0) in the previous course. The Graduate Studies Office will accept or reject the course waiver request based on two factors: 1) the degree of closeness of previous work to work that would have been taken at Mason; and 2) academic performance in the previous course(s).
INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE CREDITS: Please provide an official course-by-course evaluation of the graduate transcript.
Requesting a Course Waiver
Requests for course waivers are reviewed only after acceptance to the master’s or doctoral program. Students must request a course waiver prior to the first semester of enrollment.
To request a course waiver, please send your request to econgrad@gmu.edu, and include the following information: which course(s) you would like to waive, which course(s) in previous graduate course work are the basis for the waiver and course description or syllabus for previous graduate course work.
INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE CREDITS: Please provide an official course-by-course evaluation of the graduate transcript.
University and College Policies
For more information regarding the transfer of credit policy see:
Last updated: 10/22/2024