University of South Florida

M.A. GEOGRAPHY DEGREE INFORMATION & REQUIREMENTS

The Department of Geography offers a Masters of Arts (M.A.) in Geography with a thesis and non-thesis option.

Credit Hours

Students must complete a minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate level course work for the thesis option and 36 hours for the non-thesis option following the guidelines listed below.

Required Core Courses (Nine Credit Hours)

Based upon the student's area of interest, he/she must take one course from the following list of Quantitative or Qualitative course offerings:

Another course can be substituted for GEO 6166 with the permission of the Graduate Program Director. Possible substitutions, based upon the student's area of interest can include, but is not limited to the following:

Concentrations

Students specialize in one of three concentrations (A, B, or C) that the department offers. Students must select a minimum of three courses (9 credit hours) from the selected track.

Thesis Option students taken six credit hours of electives at a level of 5000 or higher, keeping in mind that a minimum of ten hours is required at the 6000 level. At least one of the electives must be taken outside of the student's track excluding GEO 6908, 6918 and 6944. Electives may also be selected from courses offered outside of the Department, with the consent of the student's advisor and the Graduate Program Director. A maximum of six approved hours taken outside the department can be used in the student's degree program. The remaining 6 credit hours are taken as Thesis (GEO 6971). Students in the thesis option can only apply 3 credit hours of Internship (GEO 6944), and 3 credit hours of Directed Research (GEO 6918) or Independent Study (GEO 6908) toward his/her degree program. Upon completion of a minimum of 15 credit hours, students are required to present and defend a thesis proposal. He/she must also complete a thesis defense during the semester they plan to graduate, and they must be enrolled in a minimum of 2 credit hours of thesis during the semester in which a thesis is submitted to the Graduate School.

Non-thesis option students complete a total of 36 credit hours, with 27 credit hours of electives completed at a level of 5000 or higher, keeping in mind that a minimum degree requirement is 16 credit hours at the 6000 level. Students can also take up to 9 credit hours outside the department with the consent of his/her advisor and the Graduate Program Director, to apply toward his/her degree program. Students can apply 3 credit hours of Internship (GEO 6944), 3 credit hours of Directed Research (GEO 6918) and/or Independent Study (GEO 6908) toward their degree program. Students must pass a comprehensive written examination that is administered during the semester they plan to graduate.

The following concentrations are available:

Concentration A: Economic, Social, and Planning Issues in the Urban Environment

Concentration B: Environmental, Physical and Hazards

Concentration C: Geographic Information Systems and Spatial Analysis

POLICY FOR TAKING GRADUATE COURSES AT USF ST. PETE

Graduate courses offered at the USF St. Pete campus can have a different focus than those offered on the USF Tampa campus. Therefore, a student must get approval from his/her advisor and the Geography Graduate Program Director prior to taking any courses at the USF St. Pete campus to verify that these courses will count toward the degree. Additionally, only faculty on the USF Tampa campus can serve as thesis advisor for graduate students enrolled on the Tampa campus.