Geology, MS

Admission Requirements

In addition to the general requirements of the Graduate School, application and admission to the M.S. program in Geology requires:

• a bachelor’s degree in geology or related field of study
• statement of purpose
• resume

Applicants who do not meet expectations for regular admission may be considered for conditional admission. A student admitted conditionally may be required to complete certain undergraduate geology, mathematics, or other related science courses as determined by the Geology Graduate Committee at the time of admission.

Course Requirements

The usual program requires 30 semester hours of graduate credit work, which comprises 6 hours of thesis credit and 24 hours of course credit. The 24 hours of course credit must include a minimum of 15 hours of graduate credit courses in geology. In addition, course level requirements for graduate work require 12 hours of 500 level courses, at least 9 of which must be in geology. Supportive graduate courses in a related field such as biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, petroleum engineering, physics, or statistics are encouraged. Except under special circumstances, a thesis is required. The non-thesis track requires permission of the Director of the School of Geosciences.

Required Coursework

All students must complete the following 18 credit hours of coursework:

• 9 credit hours in GEOL 5XX or EESC 63X (excluding GEOL 599)
• 8 credit hours in GEOL 4XXG, GEOL 5XX, EESC 6XX, CHEM 4XXG, CHEM 5XX, ENVS 4XXG, ENVS 5XX, PHYS 4XX, or PHYS 5XX
• 1 credit hour in GEOL 551 , EESC 691 , or EESC 692  

Additional Requirements

In addition to the required coursework above, students must choose a track and complete the requirements as described below.

Thesis Track

Students pursuing the thesis track must complete 30 graduate credit hours as follows:

• 18 credit hours of required coursework
• 6 credit hours in Graduate Level (4XXG, 5XX, 6XX) courses in the following disciplines: GEOL, EESC, ENVS, PHYS, CHEM, BIOL, MATH, or Engineering (except thesis/dissertation hours)
• 6 credit hours of GEOL 599 - Thesis Research and Thesis    

Non-Thesis Track

Students pursuing the non-thesis track with Director approval must complete 36 graduate credit hours as follows:

• 18 credit hours of required coursework
• 18 credit hours in Graduate Level (4XXG, 5XX, 6XX) courses in the following disciplines: GEOL, EESC, ENVS, PHYS, CHEM, BIOL, MATH, or Engineering (except thesis/dissertation hours)

Comprehensive Examination

Each candidate for a Master’s degree is required to demonstrate a general, comprehensive knowledge of their field of study. Towards this, students in the Geology Master’s program are required to achieve a grade of A or B on a minimum of three, 500-level Geology courses. Each of these classes must be taken for 3 or more credits.