George Mason University Courses & Fees

This degree prepares the next generation of world leaders through a rigorous, stimulating business and management curriculum based on a global perspective, industry demand and leadership.

The MBA core curriculum effectively integrates functional areas with the use of IT, oral and written communication, and teamwork.  The MBA program requires 48 credits: 30 credits of core courses, 3 credits of Global coursework and 15 credits of elective courses.  The MBA program operates on an 8 week module structure and can be pursued either as a face to face or an online format.

JD/MBA Dual Degree students can apply 15 credits of Law elective coursework toward the MBA elective degree requirement. See the Antonin Scalia Law School for more details.

The purpose of the Finance, MS program is to prepare students for successful careers in financial industries and private sectors with finance-related job functions.

This degree will provide the opportunity for prospective students to further their education by offering a specialized program that helps them develop technical financial skills to fill the projected market demand and have a successful career in a global economy.

Overall, the Finance, MS program is ideal for students who have limited work experience or have decided to pursue a finance-related career path after receiving their undergraduate degrees.  The program is designed to equip students with advanced knowledge and abilities essential for the highly skilled financial work environment.       

The program prepares recent graduates of non-business majors for success in business fields. The Master of Science in Management offers the fundamentals of business management in a global environment and is composed of the core discipline areas common to all business graduate programs that are accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). It is a full time, daytime program. Students will enter as a cohort and complete all degree requirements within 11 months.

Computer Engineering involves knowledge of hardware and software development. The students learn how to design new generations of computers, as well as embedded computing systems, such as those found in smartphones, cars, appliances, computer networks, smart factories, and the internet-of-things. The program covers the entire digital integrated circuit design process targeting Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), using various optimization criteria, such as speed, cost, power, energy, reliability, and security. It also encompasses the complete software development process targeting microcontrollers, microprocessors, multi-cores, and Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). It teaches students how to efficiently partition the system into software and hardware components, and develop high-performance interfaces between these two parts. Project-oriented courses and labs expose students to modern computer-aided design tools for hardware and software design. The students master the art of writing comprehensive technical reports and giving successful oral presentations. The computer engineering program offers the following concentrations: computer architecture and embedded systems, computer networks, digital signal processing, digital system design, hardware security and cryptographic engineering, internet of things and network security, machine learning and brain-inspired computing, and space-based systems.

The field of cyber security engineering is concerned with the development of cyber-resilient systems that include the protection of physical as well as computer and network systems. It requires a proactive approach in engineering the design of systems, with cybersecurity incorporated from the beginning of system development. The purpose of the MS in Cyber Security Engineering is to provide students with the currently rare combination of highly technical knowledge and skills, cyber security expertise, and a holistic systems engineering perspective. The program provides instruction on the design, planning, and management of systems and procedures for protecting critical physical and cyber infrastructure from external threats, including terrorism. The program provides students with the deep technical foundations of cyber security in the form of software, hardware, networking, and cryptography, as well as systems engineering tools and methods to design and secure complex cyber physical systems. Students learn homeland security policy, critical infrastructure policy, information security, matrix vulnerability assessment, threat assessment, physical security, personnel security, operational security, contingency planning, case analyses of specific industries and systems, redundancy planning, emergency and disaster planning, security systems, and intelligence operations. Graduates are prepared to design and implement secure complex and cyber-physical systems consisting of software, hardware, and networking components; respond to, investigate, and remediate incidents involving these systems; and develop offensive and defensive tools and techniques to attack and secure these systems.

The Master of Science in Technology Management is designed to provide students with a graduate management education that will help them further their leadership careers in technology and technology-oriented businesses and organizations. With technology innovation and commercialization occurring at an increasing pace and industries becoming more networked and global, business success depends on the successful management of technology. Companies are succeeding with rapid innovation, insightful technology integration, creation of focused technology organizations, and skillful management of complexity. The program addresses how to succeed in this marketplace and emphasizes leadership and management; special considerations of technology innovation, commercialization, introduction, and integration; and methods and approaches of systems thinking.

The program, designed for working professionals, starts in January and lasts for 16 months. Classes are held on the Arlington Campus on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The program is 36 credits and includes a capstone project and an international residency. The international residency is approximately 8 days abroad focusing on global topics in technology management.

This degree contains elements of traditional physics programs and the application of physics to a diversity of critical societal problems. The program is divided into concentrations; see the Requirements tab for details.

Many courses are offered during late afternoon or evening hours to allow students with full-time employment to easily attend. Students employed at area high-technology organizations may take up to 6 credits (out of 30) for work done on the job under the guidance of a faculty member. This employment-related research may be conducted under an optional 3-credit research project or an optional 6-credit master's thesis. Master's students who are not employed full time may apply for financial aid or a limited number of research assistantships.

The MS in Bioengineering prepares students for research and professional practice in bioengineering and related fields. The program includes both fundamentals and advanced work to apply engineering techniques to solve problems in biology and medicine. A major distinguishing feature of the curriculum is that it is designed to educate leaders who understand and appreciate how biomedical technology is translated from bench to bedside. Graduates from this program will eventually work in universities, industry or government in a variety of roles due to the breadth of this program and its content specific clinical translation of new technologies.

This MS is designed for students who have completed a bachelor's degree in civil engineering, although domestic students with related undergraduate degrees may be considered for provisional admission. The MS educates students in the theory and practice of civil engineering science and design, with a technical concentration. The master's degree is increasingly expected for high level practice in civil engineering, and prepares graduates to practice in civil engineering for: federal, state, or local government; engineering design firms; construction firms; public utilities; non-governmental organizations; and local and regional planning firms, among others. The MS degree serves as a foundation for subsequent study in a doctoral program in civil engineering, as well as for graduate studies in architecture, law, business, economics, finance, and public policy and administration.

Both part-time and full-time study is available. Full-time students typically complete the degree in one and a half, to two years.

Electrical Engineering is the discipline that drives our increasingly-connected society. Electrical engineers design systems, devices, and algorithms that contribute innovative solutions across a broad spectrum of applications. The Electrical Engineering program offers the following concentrations: bioengineering, communications and networking, control and robotics, electronics, signal processing, and space-based systems. The graduates of our program develop reliable, secure, and high-speed communication networks and systems; apply modern signal processing algorithms to extract information from images, audio, video, sonar, and radio signals; apply control theory and robotics foundations to applications such as autonomous vehicles, humanoid robots, and multi-agent systems; design nanoscale devices for the highly integrated circuits that drive the Internet of Things, health-monitoring devices, smartphones, tablets, and modern-day computer systems; develop prosthetic devices, brain-machine interfaces, and systems to ameliorate neurological disorders. Students in this program will develop theoretical foundations, analytical capabilities, and practical hands-on skills in their chosen field of specialization. They will also develop the oral and written communication skills necessary to articulate their ideas and succeed as entrepreneurs, practicing engineers, or technical managers in high-tech companies.

Systems engineers are the visionaries who take a global perspective of the system.  Whereas discipline-specific engineers deal with system components, the systems engineer is concerned with the integration of these components and the overall success of the system throughout its life cycle. Systems engineers focus on needs and requirements, design, production, deployment, operation, maintenance, refinement, and retirement of systems, considering multiple objectives and constraints from different stakeholder groups. Systems engineering comprises product, process, and resource management and focuses on architecture, human factors, decision support, performance and evaluation, and management. Our educational and research program reflects the systems engineer's unique perspective on the system life cycle.

Mason's graduate program in Systems Engineering recognizes the importance of balancing an education in quantitative models and engineering tools with a proper understanding of the systems perspective. Concentration areas include Advanced Transportation Systems (ATS), Architecture-Based Systems Integration (ABSI), Command, Control, Communications, Computing, and Intelligence (C4I), Energy Systems (NRGS), Financial Systems Engineering (FNSE), Systems Engineering and Data Analytics (SEDA), Systems Engineering of Software-Intensive Systems (SESI) and Systems Management (SMG).   

The graduate program leading to the Master of Science in Systems Engineering emphasizes both analytical and practical aspects of engineering complex systems.  Students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in using qualitative and quantitative tools relevant to systems engineering practice.  The program also prepares students for careers in research and development and for pursuing advanced graduate study leading to the PhD degree in Systems Engineering and Operations Research.

The Master of Science in Biodefense prepares students to become the next generation of biodefense and biosecurity professionals and scholars. This program provides students with a foundation in microbiology and biotechnology combined with a broader security and organizational context.

This degree addresses the regional and national need for technically trained managers who will be able to lead teams of bioinformaticians in both the public and private sectors. The degree combines a solid foundation in bioinformatics research, tools, and techniques, with the management skills needed to address the associated legal, ethical, managerial, and business issues. The degree is intended for:

• Students seeking advancement in their current bioinformatics careers that requires an advanced degree in bioinformatics combined with management expertise.
• Students with a general background in biological science or computational methods who are planning to enter the field of bioinformatics as managers and would like to strengthen their bioinformatics and managerial expertise.

This program provides advanced training for college graduates or professionals seeking careers in the biomedical research, biotechnology, neuroscience or biodefense, as well as evolutionary and animal biology, animal biology and biology teaching. Master's level concentrations are available in microbiology and infectious disease, molecular biology, neuroscience, evolutionary biology, and translational and clinical research. Alternatively, students may choose the program in general biological sciences, which allows flexibility to build a degree program tailored to a specific research or career interest. 

his master's degree provides advanced training for recent college graduates, professionals in teaching, and technical workers in research organizations who have an interest in chemistry or biochemistry. With a Thesis Option Master's in Chemistry, the serious student will perform original research and write an MS thesis under the direction of a faculty member. This option is for students planning to continue with a PhD, or to work in industry, academia, or a national laboratory. The Non Thesis Option is often used by those going on to a professional degree or to teach chemistry at the secondary school level.

The understanding of climate science is essential to the interpretation of modern climate variations and the measurement of their impact. Climate data must be analyzed and interpreted in order to formulate useful responses and plan actions to meet specific climate challenges. The MS in Climate Science educates students to be climate professionals who can analyze and model advanced climate data. Students in the program learn to solve quantitative problems about atmospheric properties and variability, fluid dynamics, and the role of the ocean and land surface in climate. Students choose a concentration in either Climate Modeling or Climate Data to gain specific skills to understand and predict climate variations.

The program encourages applications from students with diverse backgrounds in physical science, mathematics, and engineering. Students with atmospheric science or meteorology degrees can deepen their understanding, enhance relevant computer skills, and gain insight into climate as a multi-component system. Students with physics, math, or other degrees will find that climate provides compelling applications of their mathematical and computational skills. All students will be taught by faculty of the Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Earth Sciences Department and the Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies, which includes scientists doing pioneering work in climate dynamics, climate modeling, predictability, and statistical analysis of climate data.

The Computer Science graduate program prepares students for research and professional practice in computer science and related technologies. The program includes both fundamentals and advanced work in the areas of artificial intelligence and databases, programming languages and software engineering, systems and networks, theoretical computer science, and visual computing. Graduate classes are divided into basic classes, which have no graduate course prerequisite, and advanced classes, which have a graduate class as a prerequisite. Graduate classes are generally offered in the late afternoon and evening. Financial aid in the form of graduate assistantships may be available for full-time degree-seeking students.

Digital forensics is a discipline addressing the collection, processing, and analysis of digital data for the purpose of verifying/validating the existence of an event of investigative, intelligence, cyber, or business interest.  The data can be from physical media, a mobile device, real-time network traffic, the Internet of Things (IoT), unknown code, memory, the cloud, and many other sources. Digital forensics is interdisciplinary by nature and our program includes computer engineering, computer science, information technology, law, and ethics.  Digital forensics is a key component in criminal, corporate, civil, cyber defense, incident response, intelligence, and counter-terrorism matters. In the last several years, with a proliferation of digital storage, transmission, and processing of sensitive information, there has been an increase in the aberrant use of digital devices. This aberrant behavior includes but is not limited to digital extortion, intrusions, economic espionage, child exploitation, cybercrime, fraud, terrorism, and identity theft.  In response to this, digital forensics has become an important profession serving both public and private sectors.  The MS in Digital Forensics will prepare graduates for a wide variety of careers to include law enforcement, various other branches of government, incident response, and all facets of cyber security by combining academic education with real world practical techniques and by offering advanced training in analyzing digital evidence, intrusion forensics, reverse engineering, network analysis, legal, and ethical matters.

This is a shared program between the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Earth Sciences and the Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science.

The program addresses the growing demand for trained professionals in the Earth sciences. The degree emphasizes a research-oriented, global systems approach to studying the Earth and its systems- the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, and the lithosphere, including their interrelationships and interactions with the biosphere. Emphasis is on the observation, measurement, and analysis of Earth's systems.

Most student research projects and theses will relate to geologic and geographic topics, however studies of related topics in Earth science are welcome. Students completing the program are qualified to pursue careers that require knowledge of the basics of Earth systems science and the requisite tools, specifically pertaining to the area of Earth science that they choose to investigate. Students are encouraged to undertake a master's thesis but may choose a research project. In the latter case, students must pass a comprehensive exam.

This is a shared program between the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Earth Sciences and the Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science.

The program addresses the growing demand for trained professionals in the Earth sciences. The degree emphasizes a research-oriented, global systems approach to studying the Earth and its systems- the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, and the lithosphere, including their interrelationships and interactions with the biosphere. Emphasis is on the observation, measurement, and analysis of Earth's systems.

Most student research projects and theses will relate to geologic and geographic topics, however studies of related topics in Earth science are welcome. Students completing the program are qualified to pursue careers that require knowledge of the basics of Earth systems science and the requisite tools, specifically pertaining to the area of Earth science that they choose to investigate. Students are encouraged to undertake a master's thesis but may choose a research project. In the latter case, students must pass a comprehensive exam.