Combined Geology Degree Requirements

Required 120 credits (36 of which must be numbered 300 or above) including:

I. Essential Studies requirements (see University ES listing).

II. Geology required courses 

III. Program Required Electives 

IV. Requirements outside of the College of Engineering and Mines 

¹

Geology Field Experience credits must be pre-approved by the department and may be satisfied by successfully completing a total of 3 credits including, but not limited to: approved professional field camps, GEOL 491, GEOE 397, and internships

²

Other courses may be petitioned by student and approved by the advisor that cater to the student's interest and career plans. 

³

Students must ensure all appropriate pre-requisites are met prior to registering for all courses in the curriculum. 

Concentration in Petroleum Geology

Geology is a critically important discipline in the exploration for and extraction of petroleum. These activities require skills in visualizing and understanding the sedimentary rocks especially those in the subsurface. The range of typical applications is wide and the methods used are diverse. Expertise provided by this concentration include aspects of sedimentary geology, stratigraphy, structural geology and geophysics. This expertise is highly sought after by industries and government agencies that find and produce the oil that fuels today’s economies. Furthermore, it has become equally important to train replacements for an aging workforce in this important technological area. The concentration in Petroleum Geology is designed to prepare students for careers as petroleum geologists.  

Students must complete a minimum of 16 credits from the following list:

Concentration in Water Resources

Freshwater is a vital resource for economic growth, global ecosystems and well-being of human lives. Recently water resources are also severely under pressure across the world due to substantial population growth and migration, climate and land-use changes, and anthropogenic pollutions. Water security and quality are increasingly also recognized as a critical national security priority. Moreover, water management is becoming increasingly complex and complicated, demanding a thorough and sound understanding of hydrologic and hydrogeologic processes and their vulnerabilities to climate, land-use changes and anthropogenic usages. These interactions require the skills in visualizing and understanding water and contaminant transport through subsurface rocks (sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic) and surface waterways. The range of typical applications is wide and the methods used are diverse. Expertise provided by this concentration includes aspects of hydrogeology, groundwater contamination and remediation, water quality and lab analyses and cold region hydrology. This expertise is highly sought after by industries and government agencies that deal with critical water resources and environmental problems. Furthermore, it has become equally important to train replacements for an aging workforce in this important technological area. The concentration in Water Resources is designed to prepare students for careers such as hydrogeologist, hydrologist, environmental geologist and environmental engineer.  

Students must complete a minimum of 16 credits from the following list:

Teacher Certification

Students seeking secondary teacher certification in Geology must complete the Department of Teaching and Learning Requirements in Secondary Education. Students seeking certification should follow the curriculum for the B.S. in Geology and select Statistics (PSYC 241 Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, MATH 321 Applied Statistical Methods) rather than MATH 265 Calculus III or Computer Science. The 24 additional hours in science, computer science, statistics, engineering, mathematics, or a worldlanguage must include each of the following: at least one course in Biology with lab equaling 4 credits, Atmospheric Sciences, and Astronomy.

Geology majors seeking secondary certification must have an adviser both in the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering and in the Department of Teaching and Learning. Formal admission to Teacher Education is required and is normally sought while the student is enrolled in T&L 250 Introduction to Education (see Department of Teaching and Learning listing).

Admission Requirements

The applicant must meet the School of Graduate Studies’ current minimum general admission requirements as published in the graduate catalog.

1. For admission to the geology M.A. program, applicants must hold a bachelor’s degree in geology from an accredited college or university or otherwise demonstrate sufficient coursework, training, or experience in geoscience.
2. Applicants may be admitted under "provisional" or "qualified" status, but to advance to "approved" status, they must have completed 5 to 6 credit hours of geology field course, or its equivalent, along with satisfactory achievement in supporting sciences and mathematics, as determined by the Harold Hamm School of Geology and Geological Engineering's Graduate Admissions Committee.
3. Applicants must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher.
4. Applicants are encouraged to submit their GRE score to support their application, especially if they do not have an undergraduate degree in geology.
5. Applicants must satisfy the School of Graduate Studies' English Language Proficiency requirements as published in the graduate catalog.
6. For a Master of Arts degree, students must complete two or more semesters of calculus while an undergraduate or graduate student.

Students missing any of the above requirements may be admitted under provisional or qualified status, but all admission requirements must be completed, without graduate credit, within one year after beginning graduate work.

Initial decisions for admission and financial aid are made about March 1 for the fall semester and about September 1 for the spring semester.

To encourage undergraduate geology students to extend their studies to include a graduate degree, the College of Engineering and Mines has a combined program that permits students to earn both a bachelor's (B.S.) and a master's (M.A.) degree in geology. This program allows students to designate two three-credit graduate courses to count for both degrees.  The selected courses must have graduate course standing and be designated when a student requests admission to the program.

Students may be admitted to the Combined Degree program if they have:

1. Completed 95 credit hours towards the bachelor's degree.
2. Completed 30 credit hours of coursework and 8 credit hours of upper division coursework in the geological sciences, including the equivalent of physical and historical geology.
3. Maintained an overall GPA of at least 3.0 in all geological sciences they took.
4. Completed an application to the UND School of Graduate Studies and been accepted for admission.

Once admitted to the Combined Degree Program, undergraduate students are eligible to take 500-level courses for graduate credit. Students must complete the petition titled, "Graduate Credit as an Undergraduate Student" prior to registering for the courses. Such courses could be included in the 30 credit hours for the degree and could appear in the program of study.

Students in the Combined Degree Program will be admitted to the School of Graduate Studies on completion of 125 credit hours for the bachelor's degree.

The time normally needed to complete the Combined Degree Program is 1 year, plus an additional summer after admission to the Graduate School.

Degree Requirements

Students seeking the Master of Arts degree at the University of North Dakota must satisfy all general requirements set forth by the School of Graduate Studies as well as the following particular requirements set forth by the Harold Hamm School of Geology and Geological Engineering.

1. Students must complete a program of study that includes a minimum of 30 credit hours, including the credits granted for the thesis and the research leading to the thesis.
2. At least 15 credit hours must be for classes at or above the 500-level.
3. A maximum of 7 credit hours required for the degree may be transferred from another institution.
4. A minimum of 6 credit hours (undergraduate or graduate) must come from each subject area listed below:
   1. mineralogy, petrology, geochemistry
   2. sedimentology, stratigraphy, paleontology, geomorphology
   3. structural geology, geophysics, hydrogeology
5. Up to 12 credit hours of 300-400 level coursework in geology may be taken for graduate credit.

The time normally needed to complete the requirements for the master’s degree in geology is about two years of full-time work. Students with graduate teaching or research assistantships may need more time.

Admission Requirements

The applicant must meet the School of Graduate Studies’ current minimum general admission requirement as published in the graduate catalog.

1. For admission to the geology M.S. program, applicants must hold a bachelor’s degree in geology from an accredited college or university or otherwise demonstrate sufficient course work, training, or experience in geoscience.
2. Applicants may be admitted under "provisional" or "qualified" status, but to advance to "approved" status, they must have completed 5 to 6 credit hours of geology field course, or its equivalent, along with satisfactory achievement in supporting sciences and mathematics, as determined by the Harold Hamm School of Geology and Geological Engineering's Graduate Admissions Committee.
3. Applicants must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher.
4. Applicants are encouraged to submit their GRE score to support their application, especially if they do not have an undergraduate degree in geology.
5. Applicants must satisfy the School of Graduate Studies' English Language Proficiency requirements as published in the graduate catalog.
6. For a Master of Science degree, students must complete 2 semesters of calculus, plus an additional calculus or relevant math, computer programming, or statistical class, while an undergraduate or graduate student.

Students missing any of the above requirements may be admitted under provisional or qualified status, but all admission requirements must be completed, without graduate credit, within one year after beginning graduate work.

Initial decisions for admission and financial aid are made about March 1 for the fall semester and about September 1 for the spring semester.

To encourage undergraduate geology students to extend their studies to include a graduate degree, the College of Engineering and Mines has a Combined Program that permits students to earn both a bachelor's (B.S.) and a master's (M.S.) degree in Geological Engineering. This program allows students to designate two three-credit graduate courses to count for both degrees.  the selected courses must have graduate course standing and be designated when a student requests admission to the program.

Students may be admitted to the Combined Degree Program if they have:

1. Completed 95 credit hours towards the bachelor's degree.
2. Completed 30 credit hours of coursework and 8 credit hours of upper division coursework in the geological sciences, including the equivalent of physical and historical geology.
3. Maintained an overall GPA of at least 3.0 in all geological sciences they took.
4. Completed an application to the UND Graduate School and been accepted for admission.

Once admitted to the Combined Degree Program, undergraduate students are eligible to take 500-level courses for graduate credit. Students must complete the petition titled, "Graduate Credit as an Undergraduate Student" prior to registering for the courses. Such courses could be included in the 30 credit hours for the degree and could appear in the program of study.

Students in the Combined Degree Program will be admitted to the School of Graduate Studies on completion of 125 credit hours for the bachelor's degree.

The time normally needed to complete the Combined Degree Program is 1 year, plus an additional summer after admission to the Graduate School.

Degree Requirements

Students seeking the Master of Science degree at the University of North Dakota must satisfy all general requirements set forth by the School of Graduate Studies, as well as the following particular requirements set forth by the Harold Hamm School of Geology and Geological Engineering:

1. Students must complete a program  of study that includes a minimum of 30 credit hours, including the credits granted for the thesis and the research leading to the thesis.
2. At least 15 credit hours must be for classes at or above the 500-level.
3. A maximum of 7 of the credit hours required for the degree may be transferred from another institution.
4. A minimum of 6 credit hours (undergraduate or graduate) must come from each subject area listed below:
   1. Mineralogy, petrology, geochemistry
   2. Sedimentology, stratigraphy, paleontology, geomorphology
   3. Structural geology, geophysics, hydrogeology
5. Up to 12 credit hours of 300-400 level coursework in geology may be taken for graduate credit.

The time normally needed to complete the requirements for the master’s degree in geology is about two years of full-time work. Students with graduate teaching or research assistantships may need more time.