If you plan on getting your master's degree in geography & cartography, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #111 in the country in terms of popularity. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
College Factual reviewed 4 schools in the Far Western US Region to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of geography & cartography. Combined, these schools handed out 183 master's degrees in geography & cartography to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Geography & Cartography School for Your Master's Degree
The geography master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
Overall Quality Is a Must
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Average Early-Career Salaries
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to geography & cartography students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - The number of geography & cartography students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How easy is it for geography & cartography to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized geography & cartography related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for geography & cartography students working on their master's degree.
When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Geography & Cartography Master's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region list to help you make the college decision.
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Geography & Cartography in the Far Western US Region
Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for geography & cartography students seeking a a master's degree.
Top Far Western US Region Schools for a Master's in Geography
It is hard to beat University of Southern California if you want to pursue a master's degree in geography & cartography. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles.
Master's students who receive their degree from the geography program make around $61,063 in their early career salary.
It's difficult to beat California State University - Long Beach if you wish to pursue a master's degree in geography & cartography. CSULB is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Long Beach.
Those geography & cartography students who get their master's degree from California State University - Long Beach receive $6,013 more than the average geography graduate.
Portland State University is a wonderful decision for individuals pursuing a master's degree in geography & cartography. Portland State University is a very large public university located in the city of Portland.
Students who graduate with their master's from the geography program state that they receive average early career income of $67,045.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
The geography master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
