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Geography Department

Combined Bachelor's And Master's Of Arts In Geography And Environmental Planning: Minimum 33 semester hours

The combined Bachelor’s and Master’s program in Geography and Environmental Planning is designed to allow students to complete combined undergraduate and graduate degrees in five years. This proposed program mirrors the existing Combined B.A. & M.A. track in Global Skills.  This program is designed for both the (1) General Geography and the (2) Environmental Geography and Planning Tracts within the M.A. program and allows qualified undergraduate geography majors, in addition to those in the undergraduate Global Skills track, to pursue a combined Bachelor’s and Master’s  in Geography. 

Students enrolled in the combined Bachelor’s and Master’s program in Geography may elect to follow Plan A: Master of Arts with Thesis, or Plan B: Master of Arts without Thesis.  The degree requirements are the same as those for the regular M.A. program in Geography with the following exception: both plans of the combined Bachelor’s and Master’s require 3 less credits of planned electives. All M.A. students in this program, regardless of their plan, are expected to demonstrate a proficiency in research. 

Eligibility and Logistics

• Students may apply for this program during the first semester of their Junior year.  Students may begin the program once they have completed a minimum of 75 but have not exceeded a maximum of 96 credit hours in their undergraduate programs, including credits earned from advanced placement.  Transfer students must have completed a minimum of two semesters as full time students at Towson University.

• A minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.25 overall and in the major, at the time of application, is required for full admission to the program. All GPA calculations for admission are based upon the last 60 credits of undergraduate study.  Continuance in the MA program is contingent upon maintaining these GPA levels, and students who fall below them will be ineligible to continue graduate work. Students must receive a grade of B or better in the double-counted graduate-level courses;
• Nine credits taken at the 500 and 600 level in the Senior year will be counted towards fulfilling the 33 hours required for the MA.;
• Bachelors degree will be awarded after all degree requirements for the Bachelors are met, which should normally be at the end of the fourth year;
• Students who do not successfully complete the Bachelors portion of this track, or whose GPAs do not meet the requirements for this track, may not proceed to the MA-level unless such deficiencies are resolved;
• Students who complete the Bachelors but decide not to continue with the MA program will terminate their program with the fulfillment of all requirements for the Bachelors degree.  Students may withdraw from the combined Bachelors – Masters degree program in Geography and Environmental Planning at any time, by informing the Chairperson and Graduate Program Director in writing;
• A student who does not follow the approved plan of graduate work may become ineligible to participate in this combined degree program.
• If a student becomes ineligible to participate in the combined program, the Geography Graduate Director will inform the student in writing;
• A student who is ineligible to participate in or who withdraws from the combined degree program cannot double-count any courses for both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees.

Core Requirements (6 credits)

GEOG 601 Seminar on Geographical Perspectives (3)

GEOG 621 Research Techniques (3) 

Planned Elective Courses

Plan A: Master of Arts with Thesis (15 credits)

Plan B: Master of Arts without Thesis (21 credits)

Nine credits will count towards satisfying requirements of both the BA/BS and MA programs. Only 9 credits can be taken at the 500 level. 

How it will work

The table below outlines a hypothetical scenario for completing the MA in five years.  [Brackets] indicate which requirement is met: Core, Techniques, Regional, Graduate