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Our students come from a broad diversity of backgrounds. Many of our students are using GIS in their current jobs and are seeking more in-depth knowledge to support and advance their careers. Other students want to make a career change to the GIS industry and are using the GIScience program to give them the education needed to become part of the rapidly growing geo-spatial workforce. Our students have undergraduate degrees in a wide variety of majors, including geography, forestry, geology, biology, agronomy, urban planning, environmental science, history, English, anthropology, architecture, and finance.
All of the courses in the GIScience program are taught by full-time faculty at Northwest with Ph.D. degrees. Please visit the Northwest Missouri State University online Master of Science in Geographic Information Science (MS in GIScience) web site for more details.
The Department of Geology and Geography at Northwest Missouri State University offers a completely online Master of Science degree in Geographic Information Science (GIScience). The focus of this program is applied GIScience as used in industry and the public sector. The online Master's program includes courses on many aspects of GIScience such as geostatistics, cartography, remote sensing, and GIS. The target population for the online Master's program consists of people working in business or government who wish to use GIS technology for managing geographic data and solving geo-spatial problems, and who need in-depth knowledge that goes beyond the mechanics of using GIS software. Those in academia who want to use GIS as a tool to conduct research in their discipline may also be interested in the courses.
The Master's program requires 32 credit hours and centers on a core of seven online courses (21 credits) that are required of each student. Students choose three elective courses (9 credits) and also complete a thesis. An introductory course in GIS is intended for students with a limited background in GIScience.
Students taking a selected subset of courses for the online Master's degree may earn a graduate Certificate in Geographic Information Science. This option is appropriate for students seeking advanced coursework but who do not wish to pursue a Master's degree.