Learning Outcomes

Degree Requirements (30 Hours)

Degree requirements generally follow those of The Graduate School. The M.S. degree requires the satisfactory completion of 30 semester hours of graduate credit. A written thesis is required of all M.S. students. Students must successfully defend their thesis in a M.S. Thesis Defense. The M.S. Thesis Defense consists of a public seminar, public question and answer period, and a private consultation/examination with the Thesis committee. It must take place no earlier than sixty (60) days after a successful M.S. Thesis Proposal Presentation. This defense must be filed with the Graduate Studies Office at least one week in advance by submission of an abstract with the date, time, and place of the defense. This information will be distributed by the Graduate Studies Office to all faculty and students and posted on the department’s website. Students must be registered for at least one semester hour of graduate credit during the term in which the Thesis is completed and approved.

A Program of Study must be filed with the Graduate School before the Thesis Defense. The results of  the Thesis Defense should be filed with the Graduate Studies Office within one week of the defense date using the appropriate form. If the student fails the Thesis Defense, he/she is required to repeat it within 120 days. Failure to do so or a second failure leads to disqualification of the student from the M.S. program.

Additional course work is determined by the student and his/her advisory committee in accordance with departmental requirements and the student’s background and specific needs. Qualifying and comprehensive exams are typically completed within the first year of study.The oral portion of the comprehensive exam consists, in part, of the defense of a paper written by the student.

Additional details are available from the director of graduate studies in Earth and Ocean Sciences.