Master of Science in Geosciences (Non-Thesis Option)

Non-Thesis Program Requirements

  • Minimum credit hours outside major discipline (6 hours)
  • Required credit hours of non-thesis option report (3 hours)
  • Minimum credit hours of at least 7000 level, excluding report (15 hours)
  • Minimum credit hours in major discipline, excluding report  (9 hours)
  • Maximum credit hours in independent study (6 hours)
  • Maximum credit hours of 6000-level course work (15 hours)

Minimum total credit hours -36

Students may be required to complete prerequisite undergraduate courses and remove deficiencies without graduate credit, resulting in a program of more than 36 credit hours.

Students intending to take the non-thesis option should declare to the Graduate School at the end of their first semester (or for part-time students, after completing nine credit hours). This option requires the approval of the departmental chair and the Dean of the Graduate School. At the time of enrollment in a non-thesis option, the student must select both a general area in which to write a report and a member of the graduate faculty willing to supervise the report and approve the remainder of the study program. The report is the culmination of independent study and may be the result of an extensive literature search, fieldwork, laboratory work, or similar effort. The report must follow the general guidelines for writing a thesis and is subject to the advisor’s approval. Students in the non-thesis option must enroll in GEOL or GPHY 7913 for the report portion of their program.