Tuition & Financial Aid
Please refer to Cost & Aid - Graduate Students for more information.
For additional information regarding tuition and fees, please visit the Bursar’s Office or send an email to Bursar@umb.edu.
How to Apply
Applicants must meet general graduate admission requirements in addition to the following program-specific requirements:
Letters of Recommendation: 3
Other: Faculty advisor commitment
Application Deadlines
Deadlines: January 15 for fall, October 15 for spring
Curriculum
Course Requirements
Core Courses (8 Credits)
- ENVSCI 603 - Coasts and Communities I 4 Credit(s)
- ENVSCI 604 - Coasts and Communities II 4 Credit(s)
Skills Course (3 or 4 Credits)
Complete one from below.
Another course may be taken with approval of the student’s dissertation committee.
- ENVSCI 601 - Introduction to Probability and Applied Statistics 3 Credit(s)
- ENVSCI 611 - Applied Statistics 3 Credit(s)
School for the Environment Seminar (4 Credits)
All PhD students must attend seminar each week throughout their enrollment in the program but will receive no more than 4 credits for seminar.
- ENVSCI 791 - Seminar in Environmental Sciences 1 Credit(s)
Graduation Criteria
Program Requirements
Complete at least 60 credits from 13 or more courses including two core courses, one skills course, one ethics course, one School for the Environment seminar, 18 credits of dissertation research, and 25 to 26 credits of electives.
Doctoral candidacy: Completion of written & oral qualifying exams by the end of the sixth semester. If the presentation and successful defense of the dissertation do not take place within five years of admission to candidacy, the candidate must repeat the comprehensive examination.
Dissertation: Compose and defense a dissertation based on original research.
Students may apply for a MS in Environmental Sciences after successful completion of core course requirements and comprehensive examinations.
Minimum grade: No courses with grade below B can be applied to the program. Students who earn B- in two courses will be considered no longer in good standing and may be dismissed from the program. Students who receive a grade below C in any graduate course will be dismissed from the program.
Grading basis: Courses must be taken graded unless the course is only offered on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.
GPA: A minimum GPA of 3.0 is required from all courses applied toward the program.
Residency: Graduate course credits earned at another institution, as a non-degree student, or in another department may only be applied to the program with approval from the dissertation committee and graduate program director.
Course level: No more than one course taken at UMass Boston at the 300/400-level may be applied toward the program with approval of the thesis/project advisor and graduate program director.
Statute of limitations: Ten years.
Career Possibilities
Lead and conduct cutting-edge research in academia, government agencies, or private research institutions as an environmental research scientist. Work in governmental or non-governmental organizations to develop and evaluate environmental policies, regulations, and legislation as an environmental policy analyst. Or, pursue a career in academia, teaching and mentoring future environmental scientists. These are just a few of the possibilities.
Become a(n):
- Environmental Researcher
- Professor
- Policy Analyst
- Sustainability Director
- Environmental Data Scientist
School for the Environment
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