Meteorology, M.S.

Atmospheric science is focused on understanding Earth’s gaseous envelope, predicting its evolution and mitigating human impacts. The M.S. program at Florida Tech is uniquely interdisciplinary, drawing on expertise from the College of Science, College of Aeronautics and the College of Engineering and Computing. As such, the M.S. in meteorology can have special emphasis in areas such as marine meteorology, water resources, atmospheric chemistry, aviation meteorology or remote sensing. Collaborative research is conducted with specialists from the nearby NASA Kennedy Space Center, the USAF 45th Weather Squadron, the NOAA National Weather Service, the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Wind and Hurricane Impacts Research Laboratory (WHIRL) and local government agencies or corporations.

Admission Requirements

A student applying for admission to the graduate meteorology program should have an undergraduate major in the physical sciences or engineering. Preparatory coursework may need to be completed before starting the master of science program, and completion of such courses may require additional time. Any such requirements will be determined by the program chair and graduate faculty before admission. The prospective student will be advised of these requirements before acceptance. Applicants must submit GRE General Test Scores for evaluation.

Degree Requirements

The M.S. degree requires satisfactory completion of 30 credit hours of required and elective courses including thesis, based on an approved plan developed in conjunction with the faculty advisor. A nonthesis option is also available, where in lieu of a thesis the student completes an additional nine credit hours of coursework (for a total of 33 credit hours) and must pass a written master’s final program examination. Students with bachelor’s degrees in meteorology normally take the core courses plus electives emphasizing their areas of special interest. Students with bachelor’s degrees in fields other than meteorology are required to complete the core and other graduate courses in addition to appropriate courses necessary for certification as a professional meteorologist by the American Meteorological Society (see undergraduate curriculum). Students are required to attend the graduate seminar. A student registers for graduate seminar each semester and makes an oral presentation of research results after completing thesis research.