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Home : MGIS Program

MGIS Program

MGIS: The right path for you?

Geographic Information Science (GIS) is a rapidly expanding professional field, with increasing numbers of employers searching for skilled graduates with masters degree-level credentials. MGIS graduates enjoy a growing range of career options, as organizations recruit them for careers in urban planning, environmental protection, meteorology, consumer marketing, academia, public health, community development, and so much more.

University of Minnesota MGIS: A program that's on the map

When you decide to invest your time and energy to pursue a Master of Geographic Information Science degree, choose the path that gives you the best faculty, best resources, best professional contacts, and best possible chances for personal growth and professional success.

The University of Minnesota’s MGIS program has an international reputation for excellence. Affiliated with the University’s well-known Geography Department, with interdisciplinary ties to the University’s programs for Forest Resources, Computer Science, the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, and Soil, Water and Climate, the MGIS program was initiated in 1997 as interest in GIS began to boom. As one of the nation’s first graduate programs in GIS, the University of Minnesota’s MGIS program has set the standard for other graduate GIS programs across the nation.

The MGIS program offers you the flexibility of being a part- or full-time student.  Many MGIS students work full-time and complete their degrees as part-time students.  On a full-time student schedule, the degree takes two years to complete.  As a part-time student, completion times vary depending on the number of courses taken each term.

Tuition information is available on the University of Minnesota web site under the heading “College of Liberal Arts Master of GIS.”  The tuition you will pay depends on your residential status and if you are a part- or full-time student.  Some students have their tuition paid in part or in full by their employers, while other students are very successful at finding on- and off-campus opportunities such as research or teaching assistantships.  For more information on our tuition rates and funding policy, see our “Tuition & Funding” page under "Applying."

Individuals interested in gaining GIS training on a course-by-course basis can register as  non-degree seeking students. Students also have the option of registering for graduate credit.  Individuals seeking additional GIS training may be particularly interested in our technology courses on topics such as desktop mapping, ArcInfo, GIS programming, spatial data administration, surveying, and Internet GIS.