Mason is Virginia’s most diverse university, accepting transfer students and credits from around the world.
We use the following criteria in evaluating your transfer credits.
Criteria for Assessing Transfer Credits
- All coursework must be earned at institutions accredited by a Mason-recognized U.S. institutional accrediting agency or international equivalent.
- For repeated courses, transfer credit follows the policy listed on the transfer institution's transcript.
- A maximum of 90 total undergraduate transfer credits will be accepted. No more than 75 credits may be transferred in from 2-year institutions or credit-by-exam programs which will be awarded lower-level credit (typically 100 and 200-level courses).
- Each college-level course must be graded with a C (2.0) or better to be considered for transfer. Courses graded on a Pass/Satisfactory basis will not be considered for transfer. Developmental coursework and career/technical courses do not transfer. NOTE: The University amended the transfer policy to accept courses graded on a Pass/Fail system during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Pass courses completed in the Spring and Summer 2020 terms, that are equivalent to a C (2.0) grade or higher, will be considered for transfer. Pass courses completed in the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021, that are equivalent to a C (2.0) grade or higher and designated as a pandemic-specific grade will be considered for transfer. No passing grades are accepted for transfer from Fall 2021 forward.
- Regardless of course content, courses completed as lower-level (typically designated as 100 and 200) will transfer to Mason as lower-level. Courses completed as upper-level (typically designated as 300 and 400 level courses) will transfer to Mason as upper-level. All Mason students must complete 45 hours of upper-level coursework to fulfill bachelor's degree requirements.
- Transfer credit is not awarded for any Donald G. Costello College of Business courses completed more than ten years prior to enrollment at Mason. Elective credit will be awarded for any course transferring into the College of Engineering and Computing completed more than ten years prior to Mason enrollment. The individual program makes the final determination if the coursework can be applied to degree requirements.
- Virginia Community College System (VCCS) courses completed to satisfy the requirements for an associate degree generally can be applied toward Mason bachelor's degree programs. A few exceptions exist.
- No transfer credit will be awarded for courses taken during terms while suspended from Mason.
- Associate of Applied Science coursework generally does not transfer to Mason to apply to BA, BS, or BFA degrees. Select courses in AAS programs do apply toward the Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) programs.
- Credit from institutions operating on a quarter system calendar are transferred by multiplying the quarter credit hours by two-thirds.
- Transfer credit is not awarded for any English as a Second Language (ESL) courses or non-academic internships.