Nondegree Graduate Students

Nondegree status enables students to enroll in courses for which they are qualified without seeking formal admission to a degree program. All nondegree applicants must complete a nondegree online application for admission. Nondegree admission does not guarantee enrollment in any specific course or future degree program. Please review the College of Humanities and Social Sciences application deadlines for Graduate Non-Degree Studies.

Our department does not maintain a wait list for nondegree enrollment requests. All requests for nondegree enrollment in economics courses must be received two weeks prior to the first day of classes. Enrollment requests submitted after the first day of classes have no guarantee of enrollment by the last day to add classes.

Graduate nondegree students may enroll in 500-, 600-, and 700-level economics courses. If you are interested in enrolling in a course with a registration control and/or an 800-level course, please follow the instructions below.

 

REGISTRATION CONTROL

A course may have a registration control which requires permission from the Economics Department to enroll. All core required courses have a registration control so we can ensure that our MA and PhD Economics students have priority registration. Nondegree students are permitted to enroll based on space availability determined two weeks before the first day of classes AND meeting the prerequisites AND permission of instructor.

Requesting nondegree enrollment in an economics graduate course with a registration control:

  1.  You must use your Mason email account to request this approval. No replies will be made to non-Mason email accounts.
  2.  To request approval, you must email econgrad@gmu.eduwith the following information:
  • Course number(s) and title(s)
  • Semester of enrollment
  • Brief summary of your academic background (including any economics and math-related courses you have completed)
  • Your interest in taking each particular course
  1.  After receiving all required information the Economics Graduate Studies Office will seek the approval of the instructor and the MA or PhD Director.
  2.  The Economics Graduate Studies Office will inform the student of the final decision and inform the student on how to register for the course.
  3.  If permitted to enroll in the course, the Economics Graduate Studies Office will release the registration control for the course. The student can then register for the course via PatriotWeb. The student is responsible for completing the course or dropping within university deadlines.     

Any requests that do not meet the above requirements will not be acknowledged.

800-LEVEL COURSES

In exceptional cases graduate nondegree students in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences may request to enroll in an 800-level course if they have an appropriate academic or professional background and have the written permission of the course instructor, director of the graduate program offering the course, and the graduate dean.

Requesting nondegree enrollment in an 800-level economics graduate course:

  1.  You must use your Mason email account to request this approval. No replies will be made to non-Mason email accounts.
  2.  To request approval, you must email econgrad@gmu.eduwith the following information:
  • Course number(s) and title(s)
  • Semester of enrollment
  • Brief summary of your academic background (including any economics and math-related courses you have completed)
  • Your interest in taking each particular course
  1.  After receiving all required information the Economics Graduate Studies Office will seek the approval of the instructor, PhD Director, and the graduate dean.
  2.  The Economics Graduate Studies Office will inform the student of the final decision and get confirmation from the student to finalize the registration.
  3.  The Economics Graduate Studies Office will submit the registration form to the Registrar's, who will then register the student.
  4.  The student is then responsible for completing the course or dropping within university deadlines.       

Any requests that do not meet the above requirements will not be acknowledged.

 

Transfer of nondegree credits into an economics graduate degree

To be eligible for transfer, the credit must have been earned at Mason while in nondegree status within six years prior to first enrollment as an admitted student in the degree program, and a minimum grade of B (3.00) must have been earned.

Refer to our policy regarding request to transfer credits.

 

Page last updated: 10/02/2018