Students Terminated from Their Major

At George Mason, termination from a degree program is not the same as dismissal from the university. Students who receive a termination status still have access to many opportunities to succeed and can apply the credits they’ve earned toward other programs. This page provides information about termination status, next steps, and the resources available to help you plan your path forward.

Exploratory Academic Advising is available to support students who have been warned about possible termination from their major or school/college and who are ineligible for their major. Students terminated from their major/college will become Exploratory students within the University Provost. Please read AP.5.2.3. Termination from the Concentration or Major to learn the context of George Mason University’s (GMU) Policy. Additionally, these students will have a “TU-Terminated from Academic College” Hold on their student records.

Exploratory Academic Advisors (EAA) will help students transition successfully to a new major that aligns with their passions and interests. All students transitioning to Exploratory after being terminated must meet with their assigned Exploratory Academic Advisor to complete the transition process for their hold to be removed for registration.

Student registration after termination will not be approved after 5:00 PM Eastern Time on the Semester’s Last Day to Add date. Please view the GMU Office of the University Registrar – Calendars for the exact date. If you are submitting a termination appeal (see more information about appeals in the relevant college section at the bottom of this page), it is still recommended that you start your transition process with an EAA as soon as possible to allow for enough time to register in case your appeal is denied.

Please consider the following to make the most of your transition process:

Have your transition meeting with your newly assigned Exploratory Academic Advisor as soon as possible and be ready to discuss your possible or definite alternative academic, degree, and career goals
Be ready to discuss reasons, issues, and/or circumstances that led to termination from your college
Be open and proactive to meeting with other university services and offices that could assist with your major declaration and academic improvement
Be open to repeating courses if needed to improve your GPA
Be proactive in completing the transition action items instructed by your EAA

Additional Termination and Appeals Information:

Termination from the College of Engineering and Computing

Students who have been terminated from a College of Engineering and Computing major may not register for a CEC course without permission of the department offering the course. This applies to all undergraduate courses offered by the CEC except IT 104 Introduction to Computing (Mason Core) and STAT 250 Introductory Statistics I (Mason Core). A student may not declare any major in the College of Engineering and Computing if the student has previously met the termination criteria for that major at any time, regardless of what the student’s major was at the time the courses were taken (College of Engineering and Computing Undergraduate Academic Policies).

If a nonacademic issue led to your difficulties and your subsequent termination, consider inquiring about an appeal for reinstatement or for permission to pursue a different major in CEC:

Submit detailed explanation, plan for success, and all supporting documentation to CEC Undergraduate Student Services Office, 2500 Engineering Building, 703-993-1511, cecugrad@gmu.edu.

If you are exploring options for a major not associated with the College of Engineering and Computing, you are invited to meet with an Exploratory Academic Advisor.

Termination from the Costello College of Business

If a nonacademic issue led to your difficulties and your subsequent termination and you want to inquire about an appeal consideration, contact busreqst@gmu.edu and meet with a CCB advisor about the circumstances that led to your academic difficulty.

Students terminated from their major/concentration within business as a result from not successfully completing an upper-level major/concentration course, are able to select a different business major/concentration. Example, if you are terminated from Accounting, you may declare Marketing instead. Contact the Office of Student Success and Academic Services and meet with a CCB advisor to discuss a different business major/concentration.

Students terminated from the entire Costello College of Business as a result from not successfully completing a Foundations or Business Core course, may explore options for a major not associated with the Costello College of Business with an Exploratory Academic Advisor.