Admission Requirements

The certificate program is open to all applicants who either hold a bachelor’s degree from a college or university accredited by an accepted accrediting body or are enrolled and in good standing in a graduate degree program at UNC Charlotte.  Applications for admission are considered as they are received, and admissions are ongoing.  All students are admitted to the Graduate School in a special category for certificate programs. Students currently enrolled in the M.A. in Geography  program within the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences are also eligible to apply for the certificate.

To apply for the admission to the certificate program, applicants are required to submit: 

• A completed Graduate Admissions application form to Graduate Admissions with a statement of professional goals
• Three letters of recommendations from academic or professional sources
• Scores of GRE (and TOEFL for international applicants)
• GPA: In general, the department would prefer an overall undergraduate GPA above 3.0 (or a 3.0 for the last 2 years) on a 4.0 scale. However, averages less than these will not exclude applicants if the other elements of the application are strong
• Official transcripts from all post-secondary educational institutions

Program Requirements

At least 12 total credit hours are required to obtain a Certificate in Geographic Information Science and Technology from the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences. Students are required to take the core course which focuses on the fundamentals of GIS&T and then three elective courses from the list below. 

Certificate Total = 13 Credit Hours

Grade Requirements

Students must earn a grade of C or above in all courses toward the certificate.