Geography Graduate Study, California State University, Long Beach

The Master of Arts program in Geography at CSULB consists of at least 30 units of course work, including four graduate-level seminars and an advanced geotechnical course, as well as the preparation of an original thesis study supervised by an appropriate faculty committee. The program calls for a greater degree of interest and a greater capacity for independent work than is expected of undergraduate students. In general, students who have completed a specified pattern of undergraduate courses with high grades are eligible for admission to the master's degree program in Geography at CSULB. All applicants are reviewed in terms of their probable ability to complete the program.

There is a dual application process for admission to graduate studies at CSULB: For acceptance to the M.A. Program in Geography, applicants must apply simultaneously to the university's Office of Enrollment Services for admission to graduate study and to the Geography Department for admission to our Master of Arts program. The University Enrollment Services Office will determine if an applicant meets the minimum standards for admission to the university for graduate study and, if so, will seek the Geography Department's approval to admit the applicant to its master's program. CSULB requires that a graduate student be attached to a particular program before formal admission, hence, the dual application process.

NOTE: Because of the 2009 State of California budget crisis and its impacts on California State University, Long Beach, we regret to announce that the Department cannot accept any applications this year from students who wish to start their graduate studies in Spring 2010. Normally, we do accept spring students, who would normally have to apply by 15 October. If this affects you, please consider applying for Fall 2010, instead, when we are allowed to accept new graduate students. Fall 2010 applications need to be completed by 15 April 2010. We are very sorry for any obstacles that the State fiscal crisis has placed in your way.

Both offices will need an official set of transcripts (unless you attended CSULB). Recently, the imaging of official copies of transcripts by Enrollment Services has made them accessible to the Geography Graduate Advisor, so the Department will waive the requirement for an official set of transcripts as long as the transcripts are available through the University Consolidated Management System.

The Geography Department looks for a minimum GPA of 3.00 in geography courses taken and in the last 60 graded semester units (or 90 quarter units) taken, with particular attention paid to work in geography and, in some cases, closely related fields. The Department also needs three letters of reference, ideally from professors who are familiar with your work and can speak to the kinds of abilities needed to complete the master's degree in a timely manner. The Department also requires a statement of intent from you, usually 1.5-2 pages long. Please organize your letter around the following:

a broad overview of your interests in the discipline of geography and what professional or personal goals motivated you to extend your education to the graduate level.
the Department has four major areas of substantive research (human and urban geography, environmental and physical geography, geospatial techniques, and regional geography and globalization). Please explain how your general interests relate to one (or more) of these particular areas and to your broader goals and interests.
any skills you may now possess that could assist you in moving forward in your graduate education (e.g., foreign language skills, work experience, programming skills, foreign travel, mapping/graphics/design skills, quantitative background, or similar).

All applicants must take the Graduate Record Examination and arrange for the GRE scores to be sent to the University. In addition, students for whom English is a second language must additionally demonstrate their proficiency in the language through a TOEFL score of at least 550 (paper form) or 213 (online version) or 80 (Internet version) or an IELTS score of at least 7.0. Additional clarification and requirements are summarized here. There is no other specific application form you or your referees need to file with the Department.

To learn about the requirements and procedures of the University Enrollment Services Office, you can visit:
http://www.csulb.edu/depts/enrollment/admissions/graduate_programs.html. You may also contact them at:

California State University
Long Beach, CA 90840
(562) 985-1655 or (562) 985-4145

You can apply to the University online, by the way, at:
http://www.csumentor.edu/.

You can learn about the current schedule of graduate student and non-resident fees at:
http://www.csulb.edu/depts/enrollment/registration/fees_basics.html

International students need to contact the Office of International Education as soon as possible to learn about specific matters pertaining to study here. Their web page is http://www.csulb.edu/divisions/aa/grad_undergrad/cie/index.html.

To begin the process of admission to the Geography Department, please contact the department graduate advisor:

Dr. Christopher T. Lee (Fall 2009)
Dr. Christine M. Rodrigue (Spring 2010)
Graduate Advisor
Department of Geography
California State University
Long Beach, CA 90840-1101
1 (562) 985-4895 or -8432

You can learn more about the prerequisites and requirements of the M.A. Program in Geography here and about the department here. A copy of the Department's Graduate Handbook in Word doc format is available at https://home.csulb.edu/~rodrigue/geography/gradhandbook.doc. A "roadmap" through our Master's degree program is available at: https://home.csulb.edu/~rodrigue/geography/advising/plantoMAdegree.pdf.

The Department of Geography at California State University, Long Beach, offers the Master of Arts degree in Geography. Education in Geography at the graduate level at CSULB provides an opportunity to broaden one's intellectual life and to acquire or upgrade knowledge and skills for many careers. The degree is particularly suitable for those graduates with one of the following professional goals.

The M.A. in Geography allows one to teach at the community college level, and it enriches one's background as an in-service K-12 teacher.
It prepares those who are interested in professional employment in the public sector (e.g., GIS analyst in environmental management, remote sensing analyst, intelligence analyst, land use planner, hydrologist, conservation biogeographer, landscape restoration specialist), the private sector (e.g., market area analysis or utility network management with GIS, corporate risk analyst, real estate appraiser, environmental consulting), or the non-governmental organization sector (e.g., gender and development specialist with an international agency).
The M.A. in Geography at CSU, Long Beach, is also very beneficial to those interested in pursuing a Ph.D. for a career in research or for teaching at the university level.

Our program has deepened its traditional strengths through ten new hires in the last few years, including replacements for five recent retirements. The Department supports four areas of active research and curricular development:

Geospatial technologies and methods in geography (including GIS, cartography, geovisualization, remote sensing, quantitative methods, field techniques, and qualitative methods)
Human geography (including urban cultural geography, urban economic geography, social and political geography, feminist geography, and medical geography)
Environmental geography (including hazards, hydrology and water policy, biogeography, palæoclimatology/climatology, palæoecology, and arid lands geomorphology)
Global and regional studies (regional geographies, political-economic-cultural integration and conflict, local responses to global processes, sustainable development)

The Department supports geographic education at the K-14 level through several courses targeted to the needs of future teachers, and an innovative geoscience diversity enhancement project with the Geological Sciences Department and the Environmental Science and Policy and Archæology programs and several local community colleges and high schools. The Department has research and curricular collaborations with faculty in the departments of geography at UC Santa Barbara and UCLA, CSU Chico, and the University of Arizona, as well as researchers at JPL, the USGS, the National Park Service, the US Forest Service, and the Department of Transportation. The Department is notable, also, in the breadth of its regional competencies (e.g., Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, the Pacific, California, and the high latitudes).

Ours is a friendly and student-centered faculty, who work hard to help graduate students define and then achieve their educational and professional goals. There is a community of active graduate students, who have created a supportive esprit de corps. Graduate students are active in the Geography Student Association and its many activities (e.g., Geography Awareness Week/GIS Day events, field trips, "cultural nights out," educational wine-tasting events, beach clean ups).

The campus is the most frequently requested of the 23 CSU campuses and it features the largest library in the CSU system, as well as easy access to the UCLA and USC research libraries. CSULB has been been deemed the third best value public college in the nation by The Princeton Review. The campus has also been ranked among the top three of the 64 public master's granting institutions in the West by U.S. News & World Report. CSULB is an attractive campus near the beach in a pleasant, livable community.

More than a Half Century of Master's Theses: 1956-2009!

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This document is maintained by: Dr. Rodrigue
Last Updated: 09/30/09

More than a Half Century of Master's Theses: 1956-2009!

[GEOG Home ] [MA req'mts ] [CLA Home ] [CSULB Home ]

This document is maintained by: Dr. Rodrigue Last Updated: 09/30/09

This document is maintained by: Dr. Rodrigue
Last Updated: 09/30/09