PhD students can earn a master's degree as a secondary program while pursuing the PhD program. Students are still active in the PhD Economics program after the MA degree is conferred and need to continue fulfilling PhD requirements. The 30 credits applied to the MA degree also count toward the PhD credit requirements.
PhD in economics students may apply for the MA in economics degree when they have completed 30 credits and the following requirements:
Students who receive more than 12 hours of transfer credit are not eligible to apply for the MA degree while pursuing the PhD degree. Reduction of credit cannot be applied to master's degrees, so students who receive a reduction of credit toward the PhD degree are not eligible to apply for the MA degree while pursuing the PhD degree. All other students who have at least a 3.0 GPA may earn an MA degree from Mason after completing 30 credits.
We encourage our doctoral students to consider adding the secondary program to their record as this will be of benefit if planning to teach any undergraduate courses at George Mason University.
Eligible students need to submit a CHSS Secondary Program Application to have the MA as a secondary program added to their student record.
We encourage students to do this after their first semester in the PhD program.
CHSS Secondary Program Application
Please send your secondary program application to the Graduate Coordinator (econgrad@gmu.edu)
The Graduate Coordinator will obtain signatures and forward to the college.
You are eligible to have the secondary degree conferred when you have completed the requirements for the degree. You are encouraged to submit a graduation application at the beginning of the term in which you anticipate you will complete the requirements.
Refer to the Registrar's website for deadlines to submit the graduation application via Patriot Web.
If you miss the deadline, you will need to submit a Late Graduation Application form.
Once you apply for graduation, your record will have the status "Inactive due to graduation." This status will prevent you from registering in classes. You will need to contact the Registrar's Office (regsite@gmu.edu) to have the status removed so you can register.
Notify the Graduate Coordinator which 4 electives you want applied to the MA degree. This step is important in order to ensure only 30 credits is applied to the MA degree.
Last updated: 06/16/2022