Mason will consider transfer credit earned at institutions of higher education outside of the United States that are fully recognized by the Ministry of Education or equivalent authorizing agency, provided that such credits have been earned through university-level coursework and are presented with equivalent grades of "A," "B," or "C." The Office of Admissions will make the final determination of the award and applicability of any international credit.
Evaluation of International Education for Transfer Credit
The Admissions Transfer Credit team evaluates international transfer credit, reviewing the course context as well as how the credits and grades transfer to Mason.
There are certain documents all undergraduate students with international transfer credit must present in order for credit to be evaluated:
- Official transcripts from each post-secondary institution attended sent directly to Mason from the institution
- A certified course-by-course evaluation for all post-secondary level studies completed outside of the U.S at institutions that do not hold an accreditation in the United States from a Mason-recognized organization. GPA and degree equivalencies must be included with your course-by-course evaluation. All fees charged by translators or external evaluators must be paid by the student. We require an evaluation from one of the following:
- A certified English translation for documents not already in English recommended by an American Translator Association-certified translator or a separate translation included with the course-by-course NACES transcript evaluation.
Criteria for transfer credit:
The Office of Admissions needs additional information to evaluate your coursework for the appropriate Mason course equivalency. After you have been admitted, you should submit all courses that are post-secondary coursework, where a minimum grade of C (2.0) was earned.
Please note the following:
- Courses graded on a Pass/Fail scale do not transfer.
- English-language courses completed in institutions without U.S. regional accreditation also do not transfer.
- Catalog course descriptions or syllabi are required for courses being considered for transfer.
- The course information must be in English. If your institution does not issue English-language course descriptions, you may use a certified translator.
- Please submit course descriptions to the Office of Admissions in a timely manner so we can prepare your Transfer Credit Evaluation in time for orientation.
The maximum total number of credits that may transfer, from all previously attended institutions combined, is 90 credits. The Office of Admissions will make the final determination of the award and applicability of any international credit.
Academic Credit by Exam
The Admissions Transfer Credit team provides a comprehensive list of equivalencies for previously evaluated international credit-by-exam.