General Graduate Program Requirements

Graduate School policies and standards can be found on the Graduate School Policies page. 

The minimum GPA for any graduate program is 3.0. Individual programs may require more than a 3.0 to remain in good standing. 

The minimum grade for a course to be accepted toward any requirement is C. Individual programs may require higher grades for specific courses.

MASTER OF SCIENCE - FORESTRY

The specific courses (program of study) that a graduate student enrolls in will be tailored to each individual based on their academic background, professional interests, and the focus of their thesis work. The minimum requirements include:

• At least 30 graduate semester credits for students completing the thesis or professional paper options and 36 credits for students completing the non-thesis option. Specific courses determined by the student’s graduate committee.
• At least 20 credits in coursework (not including thesis or research credits), with at least half (minimum 10 credits) of the 20 coursework credits at the 500-level or above. 400-level courses used to fulfil this requirement must be approved to offered for graduate credit.
• At least 20 credits (including coursework, research, and thesis credits) within the major discipline.
• Students in the thesis or professional paper options may count a maximum of 10 credits of research and/or thesis. Students in the non-thesis option may count up to 4 credits of research an no credits of thesis. 
• At least one credit of graduate seminar per semester (FORS, NRSM, PTRM, or WILD 594).
• A research methods course related to the student’s field of study.
• A graduate-level statistics course (or comparable analytical course).
• Thesis or Professional Paper Options:
  • The thesis option includes:
    • A formal research proposal presenting the conceptual and empirical framework of the research.
    • A thesis – written thesis, seminar, and defense. 
  • The professional paper option includes:
    • A formal project proposal presenting the conceptual and empirical framework of the professional paper.
    • A professional paper – written paper, seminar, and defense.

Course Requirements

In addition to these specific requirements, a list of required/suggested coursework must be approved by the committee no later than the second semester in residence, but earlier if possible.  Other suitable courses (e.g., emphasizing analytical skills) can be substituted at the discretion of the student’s committee.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Graduate Seminar
Complete at least 2 credits of the following courses. Students typically complete 3-5 credits.		2
FORS 594	Graduate Seminar
NRSM 594	Seminar
PTRM 594	Conservation and Social Science Seminar
WILD 594	Graduate Seminar in Wildlife Biology
Research Methods
Complete one of the following courses:		3
FORS 505	Sampling Methods
NRSM 500	Conservation and Social Science Methods
WILD 540	Research Design
Statistics
Complete one of the following courses:		3-4
Any Statistics (STAT) or Mathematics (M) course.
FORS 505	Sampling Methods
FORS 538	Ecological Statistics
WILD 562	Wildlife Habitat Modeling
WILD 571	Estimation of Demographic Parameters
Electives, Research, and Thesis/Professional Paper/Non-Thesis Options
Complete one of the following options:		22-28
Thesis and Professional Paper Option:
Complete 21-22 credits of graduate-level coursework in consultation with your advisor or committee.
Non-Thesis Option:
Complete 27-28 credits of graduate-level coursework in consultation with your advisor or committee.
Total Hours		30-36