2024 Best Geological & Earth Sciences Master's Degree Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region

Geological & Earth Sciences is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #82 most popular master's degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 9 schools in the Rocky Mountains Region to determine which ones were the best for geological & earth sciences students pursuing a master's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 143 master's degrees in geological & earth sciences during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Geological & Earth Sciences School for Your Master's Degree

The geology 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 much a school focuses on geological & earth sciences students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other geological & earth sciences students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• 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 much debt geological & earth sciences students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized geological & earth sciences related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for geological & earth sciences students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Geological & Earth Sciences Master's Degree Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Geological & Earth Sciences in the Rocky Mountains Region

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in geological & earth sciences.

Top Rocky Mountains Region Schools for a Master's in Geology

1

Colorado School of Mines
Golden, CO

50 Annual Graduates

$62,256 Median Starting Salary

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in geological & earth sciences has to look into Colorado School of Mines. Located in the suburb of Golden, Mines is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the geology program make around $62,256 in their early career salary.

More information about a master’s in geological & earth sciences from Colorado School of Mines

2

University of Wyoming
Laramie, WY

10 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in geological & earth sciences has to check out University of Wyoming. UW is a large public university located in the remote town of Laramie.More information about a master’s in geological & earth sciences from University of Wyoming

3

University of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT

10 Annual Graduates

It is difficult to beat University of Utah if you wish to pursue a master's degree in geological & earth sciences. U of U is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Salt Lake City.More information about a master’s in geological & earth sciences from University of Utah

4

Colorado State University - Fort Collins
Fort Collins, CO

7 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat Colorado State University - Fort Collins if you wish to pursue a master's degree in geological & earth sciences. Colorado State is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Fort Collins.More information about a master’s in geological & earth sciences from Colorado State University - Fort Collins

5

University of Colorado Boulder
Boulder, CO

5 Annual Graduates

CU - Boulder is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Boulder.More information about a master’s in geological & earth sciences from University of Colorado Boulder

6

Brigham Young University - Provo
Provo, UT

11 Annual Graduates

BYU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Provo.More information about a master’s in geological & earth sciences from Brigham Young University - Provo

7

University of Idaho
Moscow, ID

4 Annual Graduates

U of I is a fairly large public university located in the distant town of Moscow.More information about a master’s in geological & earth sciences from University of Idaho

8

Montana State University
Bozeman, MT

7 Annual Graduates

MSU Bozeman is a large public university located in the remote town of Bozeman.More information about a master’s in geological & earth sciences from Montana State University

9

Boise State University
Boise, ID

11 Annual Graduates

Located in the midsize city of Boise, Boise State is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in geological & earth sciences from Boise State University

Best Geological & Earth Sciences Colleges by State

Explore the best geological & earth sciences colleges for a specific state in the Rocky Mountains Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Colorado	185	64
Utah	164	33
Idaho	96	17
Montana	90	19
Wyoming	53	10

View All Rankings >

Geological & Earth Sciences Related Rankings by Major

One of 8 majors within the Physical Sciences area of study, Geological & Earth Sciences has other similar majors worth exploring.

Geology Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Geology & Earth Sciences	69
Hydrology & Water Resources Science	35
Geophysics & Seismology	21
Other Geological & Earth Sciences/Geosciences	16
Geochemistry	2

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Physics	87
Chemistry	56
Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology	18
Astronomy & Astrophysics	10
Materials Sciences	5

Notes and References

• 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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Kelvinsong. More about our data sources and methodologies.