The Department of Government and Politics offers three pathways to a GVPT degree: Bachelor of Arts in Government and Politics, Bachelor of Arts in Government and Politics with a concentration in International Relations, and a Bachelor of Science in Government Politics. To learn more about the GVPT degrees, please visit our Major Requirement & Courses web page: https://gvpt.umd.edu/undergraduate/major-requirements-courses

The Pre-Transfer Advising program provides support to prospective transfer students from two-year and four-year schools before they apply to UMD to complete an undergraduate degree. Prior to submitting an application, you are encouraged to use Pre-Transfer Advising services to assess your readiness to transfer and estimate your time to degree completion.

You can also review 4-Year Plans for information about the major and graduation requirements for specific GVPT programs.

• Bachelor of Art GVPT
• Bachelor of Art GVPT with International Relations Concentration
• Bachelor of Science GVPT

Transfer Credit Services facilitates the evaluation of credit for new students who have earned college credit or successfully completed Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), A/AS level examinations, or certain other standard exams. It also provides information and assistance to transfer advisors and prospective students. Students and advisors work together to decide how courses fit into a student’s individual program, while the center provides course equivalencies, credit reports and articulation tables.

If you have earned college credit in the U.S. and submitted official transcripts, you may access your preliminary transfer credit evaluation online within three weeks of receiving your letter of admission. Please note that this is a preliminary and ongoing evaluation; every effort will be made to provide a comprehensive evaluation before you register for classes at Orientation. To ensure you have an updated record on file at UMD, submit a final official transcript that includes grades for any course work in progress at the time of your original application.

Be sure to review the criteria for transferable credits. Your official college transcripts will be evaluated after you have been admitted to UMD, and final determination of course transferability and applicability will be made by your academic department. To begin your credit evaluation, please mail your transfer credit documents to the address below:

Office of the Registrar
University of Maryland
1113 Mitchell Building
College Park, MD 20742

NOTE: Effective Fall 2022, GVPT is transitioning from Limited Enrollment Program Gateway requirements to Benchmark requirements. 

GVPT recommends taking the some of the following course equivalencies prior to transferring to UMD GVPT:

• GVPT170: American Government
• GVPT200: International Political Relations
• ECON200: Microeconomics
• STAT100: Elementary Statistics and Probability
• ENGL101: Academic Writing

Please refer to the Transfer Credit Database for equivalency information or reach out to GVPT Advising for assistance. 

Transfer students are advised to submit their application to the University of Maryland by the early action deadline: March 1st. 

Please refer to the University of Maryland Transfer Applicant Requirements, Transfer Application Checklist and Transfer Application FAQs.

Students transferring to UMD have a number of scholarship opportunities available to them. Be sure to visit the GVPT & BSOS Scholarship pages to learn more about how to finance your education. 

BSOS Scholarship Opportunities: https://bsosundergrad.umd.edu/academics/scholarships

GVPT Scholarship Opportunities: https://gvpt.umd.edu/undergraduate/scholarships

                                                                                                                                  Scholarship Application Timeline & Important Links:

January 1st

• FAFSA Priority Deadline

March 1st

• UMD Transfer Application Early Action Deadline
• Frederick Douglas Scholarship
  • The Frederick Douglass Scholarship is a prestigious University of Maryland scholarship for academically talented transfer students from a Maryland community college. This exceptional academic scholarship honors the life and legacy of Frederick Douglass.
• Maryland Transfer Scholarship

  • The Maryland Transfer Scholarship provides partial-tuition awards ranging from $5,000 distributed equally over two semesters to $10,000 distributed equally over four consecutive semesters. Only in-state students transferring to the University of Maryland from a two-year or four-year institution are eligible. Students must apply for admission by the early action deadline and must submit the FAFSA by the priority deadline of January 1. Students are considered for this award on the basis of academic talent and demonstrated financial need. To maintain the scholarship, students must be enrolled full-time beginning this fall academic semester and maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.20. Each fall, roughly 200 Maryland Transfer Scholarship recipients are welcomed to campus.

• President's Transfer Scholarship
  • The President’s Transfer Scholarship provides funding for a maximum of two years to out-of-state transfer students enrolled at the University of Maryland. The annual award is in the amount of $5,000 and is determined through a competitive process based on academic talent. Only out-of-state applicants are eligible to receive the President’s Transfer Scholarship. No separate application is required for consideration, as recipients are identified through evaluation of admission application materials including academic achievement, extracurricular activities, awards, honors, and an essay.
• Additional Scholarship Resources

Congratulations on joining the GVPT community! At New Student Orientation, you will meet with BSOS Advising, connect with other new Terps, and register for classes with your GVPT Advisor. New Student Orientation is a mandatory one-day on-campus program for all newly admitted transfer students. You must attend an orientation program in order to register for classes. 

Your first step is to officially confirm your enrollment at UMD as a GVPT student. Please familiarize yourself with the Transfer student To-Do List, orientation schedule, and FAQs for students and family members: https://orientation.umd.edu/transfer-orientation/transfer-do-list

Congratulations on your admission to UMD as a Government and Politics major. Now it's time to start preparing for your first semester at UMD! To learn more about the resources and opportunities for current GVPT students, please refer to the following website: https://gvpt.umd.edu/undergraduate/current-gvpt-transfer-student