Master's
Degree and Certificate Requirements
For admission to either the master’s degree or certificate program,
applicants must hold a bachelor's degree or equivalent from an accredited
university or college. While students may have completed a major in
any field, expectations are that a student has taken basic courses
in at least micro-economics, political science (U.S., national, state,
and local government), and college-level mathematics and statistics.
A minimum undergraduate grade point average of 3.00 (on a 4.0 scale)
is preferred.
To
apply for either a master’s degree or the certificate
program, applicants are required to submit
the following credentials. It is strongly
preferred that all materials be sent together in
one package. All credentials must be received
in order for an application to be reviewed:
1. Graduate application and fee: admissions.gmu.edu/applynow
Please note that when completing the online
application, you will be required to submit
this fee by credit card payment
2.
A 750-1,000 word written statement of your
goals and interest in the program
3. A current resume
4. Two official transcripts of all college
and university work completed. Students presenting international
credentials are required to provide official transcripts, degree
certificates or diplomas, and certified translations of the documents
in English (if applicable). Please see the following document for
further guidelines on submitting international credentials:
http://admissions.gmu.edu/global/TranscriptGuidelines.pdf
5. Two letters of recommendation. At least
one recommendation should be from an individual who is qualified
to attest to the candidate's academic potential.
International students must also submit the
following credentials:
1. TOEFL scores – minimum score of 575 (paper-based), 230
(computer-based), or 88 (internet-based.) **Please
note that students submitting internet-based
exam results must earn a minimum score
of 20 on each individual exam section. An official
score report is required. In addition, students
may be required to be tested
by the GMU English Language Institute.
Note: George Mason University's TOEFL code is 5827.
*Official IELTS scores will be accepted in lieu of the TOEFL exam.
A minimum total score of 6.5 is required.
2. International Graduate Student Form (required
for international applicants who are requesting
an F-1 or J-1 visa) – submit
completed form along with required supporting
financial documents with your application.
Please Note:
• All students seeking funding consideration
from the School of Public Policy in the form
of Merit-Based Scholarships are required to submit the Graduate Record Examination
(GRE) scores.
Those seeking Federal Financial Aid only are
not required to submit GRE scores.
Please submit application materials
to the following address:
School
of Public Policy – Graduate Admissions
3401 Fairfax Drive, MS 3B1
Arlington, VA 22201
