Dual Enrollment Credential

For licensed teachers to be credentialed to teach Dual Enrollment History classes in Virginia, they need 18 graduate credits in history or a MA degree in history (30 credits). The requirements specified by Northern Virginia Community College are that those credits be in courses offered by the Department of History and Art History, which have the HIST prefix, in the areas of history to be taught.

To complete just 18 credits in history you need to enroll as a non-degree student. Classes taken in non-degree status are for credit and appear on your transcript but are not part of a degree. (If you later decide to enroll in a MA or other graduate degree at GMU, you may be able to transfer up to 12 credits of non-degree classes to that degree).

Application for non-degree admission

The non-degree application requires only college transcripts and a resume.

  • You do not need to submit the goals statement, recommendation letters or writing sample that are required in the application for the MA in History.
  • The Department of History does not accept GRE scores as part of any application for graduate study.

The minimum standard for graduate non-degree admission is a 3.00 cumulative grade point average on the submitted transcripts. The same requirement applies to admission to the MA.

When you apply, please identify yourself as a Virginia teacher seeking a DE credential and include as the courses in which you are interested HIST 610, HIST 797 and 12 credits of the area of history of your planned DE teaching.

Funding

An application fee waiver is available for teachers seeking dual enrollment credentials. You need to obtain the waiver before you apply. To do so you need to contact Stephanie Hinnenkamp, CHSS Graduate Enrollment and Academic Affairs office at shinnenk@gmu.edu.

Virginia teachers enrolled for non-degree classes may be eligible for GMU’s Virginia Educator’s Tuition Discount. The discount is $500 per course for up to two courses in one semester for a total of 18 credits (i.e. all those required as a DE credential). 

  • Current tuition information
  • Eligibility for this scholarship requires you to meet the following criteria:
    • Be a licensed teacher
    • Be a Virginia state resident
    • Be enrolled in a CHSS graduate degree-seeking program or non-degree coursework
  • To apply for the discount, complete the "Tuition Discount for Virginia Educators" online form by January 15 for the Spring semester or August 15 for the Fall semester

Non-degree classes are for credit so do qualify for the VA DOE DE Grant for Tuition Scholarship for licensed high school teachers. Applications for that program are made through your school district. Refer to the Commonwealth of Virginia Superintendent’s Memo for guidelines.

  • This grant cannot be used in combination with the CHSS Tuition Discount for Educators. If approved, the grant will cover tuition only.  Fees are excluded.

Students enrolled in non-degree study are not eligible for federal financial aid.

Courses

Courses meet once a week, most from 7:20 PM- 10:00 PM, with a small number from 4:30-7:00 PM, at the Fairfax campus. There may be a small number of courses taught online each semester.

Requirements:

  • 3 credits: HIST 610-The Study & Writing of History – Required, as the first course (Fall & Spring)
  • 3 credits: HIST 797-Research Seminar in History – Required, as the last course (Fall & Spring)
  • 12 credits: Reading seminars in US, European and World History; a teacher would choose courses relevant to the DE courses they planned to teach.

Course Offerings 2025

US HISTORY

Summer 2025

  • HIST 615-World War II (online)
  • HIST 615-American Internationalism (online)

Fall 2025 

  • HIST 610-Study & Writing of History (online)

  • HIST 535-Comparative Slave Trade (online)
  • HIST 615-Race, Gender & Lynching (online)
  • HIST 615-American Democracy
  • HIST 620-Development of the Early Republic
  • HIST 629-Gilded Age & Progressive Era
  • HIST 650-Technology & Power
  • HIST 651-Disease & Medicine
  • HIST 664-Indigenous North America
  • HIST 678-US Civil/Military Relations

Spring 2026

  • HIST 615-US South to 1860
  • HIST 615-American Public Sphere
  • HIST 615-WW1
  • HIST 615-20th Century African American History
  • HIST 615-Civil Rights & Immigration
  • HIST 631-Era of the American Revolution
  • HIST 633-Reconstruction Era

EUROPEAN HISTORY

Summer 2025

  • HIST 635-World War II (online)

Fall 2025 

  • HIST 647-Nazi Germany
  • HIST 650-Technology & Power
  • HIST 651-Disease & Medicine

Spring 2026

  • HIST 635-WW1
  • HIST 635-Early Modern England
  • HIST 646-Stalinism (online)

WORLD HISTORY

Summer 2025

  • HIST 585-Europe & the Middle East (online)

Fall 2025

  • HIST 535-Comparative Slave Trade (online)
  • HIST 555-Current Issues In East Asia (online)

Spring 2026

  • HIST 535-Rebellion & Revolution in Islam (online)
  • HIST 535-Race & Culture (online)