• The Department of Geology offers programs leading to the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. On a full time basis, the M.S. normally requires two to three years of work, which includes courses, the completion of an M.S. research thesis, and an oral defense of the thesis.
  • On a full-time basis, the Ph.D. commonly requires three to four years of work, if conducted after the completion of an M.S. program, or four to five years from the time of admission if pursued directly from the Bachelor level.
  • The Ph.D. program normally includes course work, a qualifying examination and proposal defense, a dissertation, and an oral defense and examination of the dissertation.
  • Our students are required to engage in independent and original research under a mentoring program that promotes creative thinking. This is most commonly achieved via the collaboration between students and faculty in ongoing research programs.