Prospective Student 

Admission Requirements:

Application Deadlines

Ph.D. Program

  • Ph.D. Program in Geosciences Entry to Fall Semester
  • February 15, January 15 for international students

Masters Programs

  • Entry to Fall Semester: March 15, February 15 for international students
  • Entry to Spring Semester: October 15 (September 15 for International Students)
  • Entry to Summer Semester: March 15 (December 15 for International Students)
  • Masters applicants not seeking funding will be considered on a rolling basis

Admission to the program: 

  1. Apply on-line: through the  FAU Graduate College.
  2. Doctoral applicants must also send a statement of purpose.  The statement of purpose should be 2-3 double spaced pages that discuss the applicant’s background and reasons for applying to the program. 
  3. Request Letters of recommendation* 
    • PhD Applicants need at least 3 recommendations, including one support letter from FAU Geosciences' Faculty member.
    • MS Thesis Applicants need a recommendation from a FAU Geosciences faculty advisor
    • MS non-Thesis Applicants are not required to submit any recommendations
  4. Do international transcripts have to be evaluated prior to the admission process? All applicants who have completed all or part of their education abroad are required to have their foreign credentials evaluated by FAU at no cost or an independent evaluation service that is a NACES member. at the applicant's cost  Applicants must send certified translated transcripts to the Graduate College.  
*It is each applicant's responsibility to identify a faculty advisor prior to applying to the MS thesis or PhD program. Students may view lists of Graduate Program Faculty members. Prospective students should use these lists to identify a potential faculty advisor based on area of research emphasis and reach out to them directly via email regarding the possibility of joining their working groups. It is recommended to approach a single potential faculty advisor at a time.

Financial Support:

Many full-time graduate students receive financial support in the form of teaching and/or research assistantship s. 

  • The doctoral TA stipend is $26,000 for 12 months.  
  • Masters' TA stipend is $6,240 per Fall or Spring semester.  
  • Funded Doctoral and Masters also receive a 100% of tuition waiver, based upon a 9-hour full-time course load per semester.  Student fees are not covered by assistantships, and payment of fees are the full responsibility of the student.  A breakdown of student fees per credit hour can be found at http://www.fau.edu/controller/student_information/tuition_breakdown.php.

Additional Financial Support may be available through other FAU initiatives: 
Go to  FAU's Financial Aid  web page for more information 

Department Mailing Address: 

Florida Atlantic University 
Department of Geosciences 
Attn: Graduate Admissions Committee
777 Glades Road 
Boca Raton, Florida 33431