All students admitted Fall 2024 and beyond are required to complete a Mason Apex course as part of the Integration level of Mason Core.
Students admitted prior to Fall 2024 may also use a Mason Apex course but may use either a Capstone or a Synthesis course to satisfy this requirement.
Mason Apex
Mason Apex courses or in some cases, sequence of courses, present George Mason students with a high-impact culminating experience, requiring students to utilize critical thinking skills and preparing them for life-long learning. Students are challenged to draw connections across their George Mason undergraduate academic experience. Mason Apex courses provide students with opportunities to apply and communicate their knowledge, and involve integrative, applied, or experiential projects. Through this experience, students also gain confidence in identifying, practicing, and articulating the key skills and competencies that employers value most in college graduates.
Required: A minimum of 3 credits at the 400-level. It is suggested that students enroll after completing 85 credits. These courses maintain a faculty/instructor/mentor-to-student ratio of no more than 1:35.
Learning Objectives:
Upon completing a Mason Apex course, students will be able to:
- Integrate skills, abilities, theories, or methodologies gained across a Mason student’s undergraduate education to explore complex issues in original ways.
- Communicate effectively the results of the student’s work with awareness of audience, purpose, and context using an appropriate modality (for example: written, oral, visual, material, embodied, multimodal).
Approved Courses: For the current list of approved courses, please see the catalog.
Course Approval Process
As a reminder, existing Capstone and Synthesis courses have been automatically moved into the new Mason Apex category. The Mason Core Committee, the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Planning (OIEP), and the Stearns Center will work with departments prior to the Fall 2028 Mason Core assessment period for this category to ensure all Mason Apex courses are meeting the appropriate learning outcomes.
To submit a new or revised course for this category, please complete the proposal worksheet provided below. Submit the completed proposal worksheet, the course syllabus, and all related assignments to CIM for Mason Core Committee review.
Review the course submissions guide for a more detailed overview.