Boston University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
MS in Remote Sensing & Geospatial Sciences
Boston, USA
MSc
DURATION
2 semesters
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
16 Mar 2026*
EARLIEST START DATE
Aug 2026
TUITION FEES
USD 34,935 / per semester **
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* applications received after the final deadline will continue to be reviewed on a space-available basis
** for full time students | part time students: 2,183 USD per credit
Key Summary
Study with renowned faculty in a world-class program.
With an MS in Remote Sensing & Geospatial Sciences, your career options are endless. Private, public, and nonprofit sectors demand professionals with advanced technical skills who can organize and analyze spatial data sets. From governmental planning, defense, and transportation departments; to environmental, resource management, and public safety agencies; to consulting firms, research labs, and academia, your skills are in demand. In Boston University’s internationally recognized master’s program, the world’s most respected and influential remote sensing and geospatial faculty will educate you in both the underlying theory and the application of remote sensing, spatial analytical methods, digital cartography, and geographic information systems.
The Remote Sensing & Geospatial Sciences master’s program welcomes students with diverse natural science and social science backgrounds.
Financial Aid
Financial support for Master’s students in Earth & Environment is allotted based on need and merit, and on a first-come basis, beginning with the opening of applications on September 1. Partial tuition scholarships may be offered, and/or some students are invited to serve as teaching assistants for undergraduate courses, at a stipend of $6,000 per semester. (Teaching assistants lead labs and discussion sections.)
Occasionally, faculty hire Master’s students to serve as research assistants, paid on an hourly basis; those opportunities always depend on matching student skills with faculty need and are usually determined once a student has been coursework.
The MS in Remote Sensing & Geospatial Sciences comprises eight courses or 32 credits: 3 core courses and 5 elective courses that are chosen in consultation with the student’s advisor.
- Core Courses (3 courses)
- EE 501 Advanced Topics in Remote Sensing
- EE 505 Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
- EE 509 Applied Environmental Statistics or EE 516 Multivariate Analysis for Geographers
- Electives (5 courses)
With the prior approval of an advisor, students in the program may select graduate-level courses beyond the approved list of electives to fulfill the elective requirement. Courses taken to fulfill statistical methods requirements cannot be double-counted as an elective.
- Demonstrate advanced knowledge of the theory of remote sensing and GIS including sensor systems, basic radiative transfer, cartographic projections and display, and spatial databases, and of fundamental concepts in geospatial analysis and modeling techniques.
- Quantitatively analyze data to evaluate scientific hypotheses and arguments in remote sensing and geographic information science.
- Communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing, advanced concepts in remote sensing and geographic information systems.
- Demonstrate understanding of the broader impacts and applications of remote sensing and GIS for natural sciences, social sciences, and society at large.
- Apply a range of geospatial analysis techniques using remote sensing and GIS tools toward solving quantitative problems in one or more core disciplinary areas such as geography, ecology, environmental sciences, biogeosciences, urban planning, or natural resources management.
With a Professional MS in Remote Sensing & Geospatial Sciences, your career options are endless. Private, public and nonprofit sectors demand professionals with advanced technical skills who can organize and analyze spatial data sets. From governmental planning, defense, and transportation departments; to environmental, resource management, and public safety agencies; to consulting firms, research labs, and academia, your skills are in demand.
Alumni Career Paths
1. Environmental Consulting
Consultants utilize their skills and expertise to provide specialized knowledge for clients who need to solve specific problems. They can work as independent contractors or in large firms and typically work on a variety of projects for both private and public clients. A consultant might assist the EPA in formulating rules for power plant operations, help a rural community government determine how to manage water resources, analyze the impacts of a toxic waste site, develop environmental impact assessments for private firms, or help an energy firm better predict future electricity demand. Our alumni work at industry-leading consulting firms:
- The Cadmus Group
- McKinsey and Company
- EBI Consulting
- Booz Allen Hamilton
- ERM
- Synapse Energy Economics
2. Nonprofits and NGOs
Alumni at nonprofit organizations and other non-governmental organizations work to address environmental and sustainability challenges from the local to the global levels. These organizations aim to fill gaps left by private firms and governments to solve otherwise unmet needs. Our alumni have built careers at a variety of notable organizations:
- The World Bank
- Earthwatch Institute
- The Nature Conservancy
- Union of Concerned Scientists
- Natural Resources Defense Council
- Global Brigades
3. Government
Many of our alumni have found positions working in government at all levels, both as researchers and policymakers. Our alumni have shaped environmental policy and helped answer pressing environmental questions with a number of governmental bodies:
- US Environmental Protection Agency
- US General Services Administration
- Louisville Sustainability Council
- New Jersey Water Supply Authority
- Office of the Governor, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
- New York City Emergency Management Department
- Maryland Transit Administration
4. Industry
Many of our alumni have gone on to work at both small and large private firms that conduct a wide range of business. Some of these firms provide specialized geospatial, environmental, or energy services, but many of our alumni have found the skills and knowledge gained in the Department of Earth & Environment to be valuable in private firms that do work in areas as diverse as finance and digital media:
- Chevron
- EnerNOC
- Spotify
- Green Century Capital Management
- CLEAResult
- National Grid
- Digital Globe
- Apple
- Ceres, Inc.
Our Center for Career Development is also ready to help you find the best use of your degree. From networking to job opportunities to salary negotiations, our mission is to help you grow your professional life and keep it humming well beyond graduation.