The Department of Marine Sciences is the degree granting-unit; all marine sciences graduate students are enrolled in the department. IMS faculty have joint faculty appointments in the department, and this enables their participation in graduate student academic activities. Research programs in physical oceanography, marine biology and ecology, marine geochemistry, marine geology, and coastal meteorology are conducted in North Carolina and throughout the world by faculty from the department and the IMS.

Courses and facilities at other coastal laboratories are also available to UNC–Chapel Hill marine sciences students through cooperative agreements. Courses at North Carolina State University, UNC–Charlotte, UNC–Greensboro, North Carolina Central University, and Duke University may be taken for credit through an interinstitutional registration program.