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 either a transfer of credit or a reduction 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 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 six years prior to first enrollment as an admitted degree-seeking student, and a minimum grade of A (4.00) must have been earned. The credits cannot have been previously applied toward a degree at another institution or Mason.A transfer of credit will be applied to satisfy electives course work 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 nondegree graduate credits that can be transferred into the PhD Economics degree is 12 credit hours.
Credit is considered for transfer at the student’s request at the time of initial registration as a master’s or doctoral student. Decisions on transfer of credit will be made after an audit of the student’s current grades.
To request a transfer of credit, please send your request to the Graduate Studies Office at econgrad@gmu.edu and include the following information: which course(s) in previous graduate course work are the basis for the transfer 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.
Reduction credits only apply to PhD students.
A reduction of credit may be awarded, subject to approval by the Director of Graduate Programs, on the basis of a previously earned post-baccalaureate degree (master’s or Juris Doctor) prior to admission to the Economics PhD program at George Mason University. Reduction of credit is limited to a maximum of 30 credits, depending on the judgment of the Director of Graduate Programs about the degree of closeness of previous work to work that would have been taken at George Mason University.
In order to be considered for credit, the student must have received a minimum grade of A (4.0) in the previous course. Previous graduate credit used to request a reduction of credit is not subject to any time limit prior to enrollment as a doctoral student. In addition to approval by the Director of Graduate Programs, credit reductions also require approval of the dean.
A reduction of credit will be applied to satisfy electives course work requirements. 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.
Students who are awarded reduction of credit are not eligible to confer an MA degree at George Mason University while pursuing the PhD.
Requests for reduction of credit are reviewed only after acceptance to the doctoral program. Students wishing to be considered for a reduction of credit must notify the Director of Graduate Programs during the first semester of study. Decisions on reduction of credit will be made after an audit of the student’s current grades.
To request a reduction of credit, please send your request to econgrad@gmu.edu and include the following information: which course(s) in previous graduate course work are the basis for the reduction 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.
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).
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.
For more information regarding the transfer of credit policy see:
University policy (AP.6.5.3)
For more information regarding the reduction of credit policy see:
University policy (AP.6.5.2)
Last updated: 10/27/2017