Political Science

English Language Requirements:

Mason students participate in rigorous graduate coursework as part of their university educational experience. Therefore, students at Mason must have full command of academic English at the graduate level in order to be successful throughout their studies. All new graduate students are expected to accurately comprehend written graduate-level English, clearly understand rapidly spoken English in classroom lectures and in professional settings, write with proper grammar and syntax, and be able to respond quickly in English using a vocabulary appropriate for collegiate settings.

For this reason, Mason has a high standard of English proficiency for graduate admission. All Mason graduate programs strictly require applicants to meet that English proficiency standard. Applicants who have earned a bachelors, masters, or doctoral degree from a regionally accredited university in the United States (excluding Puerto Rico), Canada (excluding province of Quebec), Commonwealth Caribbean (Antigua, Bahamas, Barbuda, Belize, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago), United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand are considered to have met that standard. All other applicants are required to take an English proficiency examination and meet minimum scores set by Mason in order to be considered for admission. The TOEFL, Pearson Test of English, IELA, or IELTS exams can be used to meet this requirement.

Degree Requirements:

1. TOEFL (MyBest Scores Accepted)

IBT - 88 points total AND a minimum of 20 points in each section

• Graduate School of Business - 93 points total AND a minimum of 20 points in each section
• Graduate School of Engineering - 80 points total, no minimum section scores

PBT - 570 points

2. IELTS - Academic

6.5 total band score

• Graduate School of Business - 7.0 total band score AND a minimum of 7.0 in each subsection

3. Pearson Test of English

59 overall score

4. IELA Graduate

An overall score of 176

• Graduate School of Business - 185 overall scores AND a minimum of 185 in each subsection

5. INTO-Mason Academic English

Level 7 

All English proficiency scores are valid for two years from the test date. Official test scores must be provided directly from the testing agency. For TOEFL, IELTS, and the Pearson Test of English, please make sure you have scores sent to the Mason Office of Graduate Admissions. It is not necessary to use the exact department code as test scores arrive to our institution electronically.

In-state full-time/year : $9446

Out-of-state full-time/year : $25430