Admission

 

 

Admission
STEP 1: Qualifications
The Graduate School requires all admitted graduate students to have a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university in the United States, or the equivalent of a baccalaureate degree in another country. A minimum GPA of 3.0 is normally required for admission into this program while rare exceptions can be made. The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is not required.
Students can be admitted into the program with various backgrounds. However, to be able to officially start the program in the fall, students are required to meet the prerequisite requirements:

  • Introductory course in GIS and/or Remote Sensing (or proof of extensive practical/field experience)
  • An introductory course in Statistics

The applicants have various background and preparation when accepted into the program. To get admission, the applicants are not required to have any GIS, remote sensing, and statistics background. However, before they can start the program, they have to meet the prerequisites. For students applying for Graduate Certificate track, only GIS and statistics are required as prerequisites. For students applying for the Master degree track, they must have GIS, remote sensing and statistics background. These prerequisite courses (GEOG506, GEOG579, and GEOG579B) are offered online by the MPS GIS program during the summer proceeding the fall term when the program starts. You can either take these prerequisite courses here in the University of Maryland or the equivalent courses in other institutions. The prerequisite courses do not count toward the degree.
 
NOTE: International students are required to submit scores from the TOEFL exam unless they have completed a degree program from an institution where English is the instructional language. 
 
STEP 2: Application Deadlines
Students are admitted to the program only for the Fall Term.

  • Deadline for applications for International students: January 15 *
  • Deadline for applications for U.S. citizens and permanent residents: March 15 *

* You are encouraged to contact us (geog-gis@umd.edu) with any questions on the application deadline. The actual deadlines may vary depending on the applicant's background. 
STEP 3: Application Instructions
Detailed instructions on how to apply are here: Click Here
The application for the Master's program and the Graduate Certificate is available here: Click Here
NOTE: Besides the standard Graduate School Application Form, applicants are required to submit the official transcripts from previous colleges or universities. A cover letter or personal statement and C.V. should be included in the application. Actual recommendation letters are not required even though the supplemental application requires them. You only need to provide a list of three references. We may contact them only when necessary.
 
Tuition & Fees
Current charges (subject to campus approval)

   
Tuition: The current tuition is $525/credit for Maryland residents and $795/credit for non-residents.

Starting the Fall 2013, the tuition is $660 per credit (It's the same rate for in-state and out-of-state students)

Mandatory Campus Fee: $593.63 for full-time students (9 or more credits)
$337.04 for part-time (up to 8 credits)

Note: Some courses also have a $40 lab fee.