The Department of Marine Science offers a curriculum designed to familiarize the graduate student with the interdisciplinary field of marine science as well as to allow for specialization in one of the four major subfields: Biological Oceanography, Geological Oceanography, Physical Oceanography, and Marine Chemistry. The Master of Science degree requires a total of 34 hours of graduate level courses. The Ph.D. in Marine Science requires 84 graduate hours beyond the Bachelor's degree or 54 hours beyond the Master's. Graduate students must maintain a GPA of 3.0 or better (note that no more than two C's can be accumulated).

All entering graduate students must complete the four core courses, generally by the end of their first year in residence (see Table 1 in Section IV). A grade of B or better must be obtained in all core courses in order for the student to proceed to candidacy. Note, however, that a grade of C in one core course will be allowed provided either a) the student retakes that course and passes with a grade of B or better or b) the student successfully demonstrates sufficient knowledge of the course material through a mechanism agreed on by the student, instructor, advisor, and department chair (normally this mechanism involves retaking the final exam).

For the Master's degree, other program requirements include six (6) hours of Thesis (MAR 698) and at least one (1) hour of Seminar in Marine Science (MAR 689). The required courses account for 23 of the total 34 hours; the remaining 11 hours (course numbers 600 and above) must be chosen by the student from the elective courses listed in Table 2 (see Section IV) after consultation with the student's advisor.

For the doctoral degree, other program requirements include 12 hours of Dissertation in Marine Science (MAR 898), at least 2 hours of Seminar in Marine Science (MAR 689), and at least 12 hours of MAR electives (course numbers 600 and above). The Ph.D. also has a language proficiency requirement. This requirement can be satisfied by demonstrating proficiency in (a) two foreign languages (generally French, German, Russian, or Spanish), (b) one language and statistics or computer science, or (c) one language and a 9 hour minor.

   All students must additionally engage in at least 10 days of qualified field research activities.