Physical Science - Earth Science Concentration

Course Overview

During the past several years, M.S. students have experienced excellent career success with governmental agencies and private industry. Several students have gone on to PhD programs at other universities, including the University of Delaware, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Arkansas, University of Nevada at Las Vegas, and the University of Waterloo, Canada. Interdisciplinary training and experience are increasingly in demand for all sectors of the earth science profession. The M.S. degree offered at ESU is well-suited for current and future career opportunities. At the time of application a degree aspirant's previous academic work is evaluated. Upon admission to the program, any existing deficiencies are identified and recommendations are made to address them by the graduate advisor for the applicant's program. All students are required to pass the qualifying exam(s) for their discipline prior to the completion of 12 hours of graduate degree program work. If one or more parts of the exam are not passed, the student may be given an additional opportunity either by additional testing or coursework to satisfy this requirement. Students are required to either, complete a minimum of 30 credit hours including a thesis (a maximum of 8 hours may be research and thesis combined) , or, complete a minimum of 32 credit hours including a research project (a maximum of 6 hours may be research). Students must complete at least 15 hours of courses in earth science (ES or GO courses) exclusive of the thesis or research project. At least six hours of graduate credit must be taken from the following allied sciences: biology, chemistry, computer science, geography, mathematics, or physics.