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Geography & Cartography

Colleges offering this major Rankings Trends

What you'll do in college

This interdisciplinary group studies the spatial relationships between people, places, and the planet. Coursework blends physical geography, human geography, cartography, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with statistics, urban studies, and remote sensing. You will learn how to design maps, analyze satellite imagery, model population movement, and use spatial data to investigate everything from disease outbreaks to gerrymandering.

What you'll do after college

Geography grads have become surprisingly hot hires as every industry tries to make sense of location data. They work as GIS analysts at tech firms, cartographers at mapping companies, urban planners for city governments, transportation logisticians, and intelligence analysts for federal agencies. Many also pursue advanced work in climate modeling, public health geography, or commercial real estate analytics.

Selectivity vs. earnings

By acceptance rate

$57,279
732
100–82%
$58,693
1,416
81–46%
$61,139
715
46–0%
Acceptance rate · bar = degree-weighted earnings

By SAT median

$57,035
548
400–1150
$59,418
1,092
1150–1340
$63,507
548
1360–1600
Combined SAT composite median (submitters + non-submitters) · bar = degree-weighted earnings

Earnings vs. selectivity rank

$49,541p10 $67,421p90 Military Female-only Liberal Arts Public University Religious University Private University Liberal Arts 1–15 Public University 1–15 Private University 1–30 United States Military Academy · $65,636 Mount Holyoke College · $58,496 Vassar College · $62,784 Macalester College · $58,384 Ohio Wesleyan University · $49,541 Carthage College · $53,179 Augustana College (IL) · $51,013 Gustavus Adolphus College · $59,772 Calvin University · $55,321 Rocky Mountain College · $57,617 Aquinas College · $55,491 CUNY Hunter College · $47,158 Binghamton University · $58,802 San Diego State University · $50,553 Cal State Los Angeles · $43,170 University of California, Santa Barbara · $58,504 University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire · $58,924 University of South Florida · $58,096 University of Washington · $60,318 Cal Poly - Pomona · $59,616 University of North Carolina Wilmington · $55,235 University of Maryland, Baltimore County · $57,706 University of Maryland, College Park · $72,369 Cal State Long Beach · $48,081 State University of New York at New Paltz · $53,879 Salisbury University · $54,445 University of Tennessee, Knoxville · $56,123 Texas A&M University - College Station · $75,036 Cal State Fullerton · $46,309 Fayetteville State University · $48,939 Northern Illinois University · $62,418 West Chester University of Pennsylvania · $65,465 University of Connecticut · $72,926 Virginia Tech · $66,150 University of South Carolina · $55,591 Tarleton State University · $56,582 Central Connecticut State University · $52,606 Illinois State University · $70,146 University of Massachusetts - Amherst · $65,215 University of New Mexico · $71,130 State University of New York at Cortland · $59,264 Frostburg State University · $55,199 Minnesota State University, Mankato · $60,907 Northeastern Illinois University · $53,591 Arkansas State University · $75,663 Appalachian State University · $71,172 Fresno State · $49,612 University of Hawaii at Hilo · $40,927 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities · $60,434 Ball State University · $56,195 Central Michigan University · $62,093 Eastern Michigan University · $51,863 Jacksonville State University · $48,415 Oklahoma State University · $65,395 Rutgers University - New Brunswick · $52,634 University at Albany · $55,413 James Madison University · $60,911 Texas Tech University · $60,785 University of Alaska - Anchorage · $81,479 SUNY Oneonta · $55,657 Texas State University · $55,867 University at Buffalo · $44,431 Eastern Illinois University · $44,154 Louisiana State University · $70,059 University of Colorado Boulder · $62,075 University of Alabama · $57,844 Louisiana Tech University · $60,491 Cal State Sacramento · $60,418 East Carolina University · $58,396 George Mason University · $67,114 Georgia Southern University · $53,873 Indiana University Southeast · $54,988 Marshall University · $52,104 Millersville University of Pennsylvania · $56,343 Missouri State University - Springfield · $53,480 Montclair State University · $47,137 Northeastern State University · $55,812 Northwest Missouri State University · $57,469 Ohio University · $56,808 Salem State University · $47,375 Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville · $54,943 Temple University · $52,663 Troy University · $56,046 University of Central Arkansas · $55,992 University of Colorado Colorado Springs · $51,778 University of Colorado Denver · $52,164 University of Delaware · $64,333 University of Houston - Clear Lake · $55,636 University of Maine at Farmington · $47,448 University of Northern Colorado · $60,735 University of Oklahoma - Norman · $65,964 University of Southern Maine · $54,529 University of Texas at Dallas · $59,760 Western Illinois University · $52,511 Worcester State University · $38,319 Wright State University · $58,927 Farmingdale State College · $58,445 University of Vermont · $40,469 Miami University - Ohio · $63,183 SUNY College at Geneseo · $57,095 University of Wisconsin - La Crosse · $59,813 Bemidji State University · $56,253 Cal State East Bay · $57,073 Oregon State University · $53,348 University of Arkansas · $62,287 University of Idaho · $52,464 University of Louisville · $63,118 University of Wisconsin - Parkside · $53,652 Indiana University · $64,477 University of Missouri - Kansas City · $60,751 Rowan University · $60,781 University of Missouri · $58,078 University of North Carolina at Charlotte · $67,773 Chico State · $67,421 Fitchburg State University · $51,709 University of New Hampshire · $61,554 Youngstown State University · $56,018 Kennesaw State University · $62,403 University of Iowa · $61,200 University of West Georgia · $52,649 Metropolitan State University of Denver · $63,185 Portland State University · $43,751 Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania · $51,575 University of Minnesota - Duluth · $60,504 University of Nebraska, Lincoln · $62,004 University of Toledo · $58,569 University of Mary Washington · $55,711 San Jose State University · $63,205 University of Central Oklahoma · $58,290 University of North Texas · $58,551 Bowling Green State University · $58,101 Cal Poly - Humboldt · $44,330 Colorado State University - Fort Collins · $58,593 Indiana University of Pennsylvania · $53,127 Kutztown University of Pennsylvania · $51,176 Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania · $60,788 Sonoma State University · $53,179 University of North Dakota · $62,804 University of Utah · $54,103 University of Wisconsin - Whitewater · $60,997 Western Michigan University · $49,754 University of Nevada, Reno · $74,103 Michigan State University · $72,382 Framingham State University · $50,576 Indiana University - Indianapolis · $56,284 Arkansas Tech University · $55,656 Cal State San Bernardino · $51,497 Cal State Stanislaus · $55,499 Central Washington University · $47,673 Delta State University · $52,576 Indiana State University · $54,984 SUNY Buffalo State University · $50,728 Saint Cloud State University · $62,360 South Dakota State University · $58,298 Southern Utah University · $53,280 University of Arizona · $49,916 University of Cincinnati · $57,947 West Virginia University · $54,290 Western Kentucky University · $57,278 Northern Michigan University · $52,957 Bridgewater State University · $55,736 University of Wisconsin - River Falls · $54,950 University of Oregon · $52,653 Arizona State University · $58,146 Cal State Northridge · $67,723 Georgia College & State University · $57,877 Towson University · $55,655 University of Hawaii at Manoa · $52,572 University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee · $57,733 Radford University · $63,600 Northern Arizona University · $59,971 University of Kentucky · $60,494 University of Montana · $47,916 University of North Alabama · $54,208 University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh · $59,973 University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point · $53,739 University of Texas at San Antonio · $54,247 Old Dominion University · $57,295 University of Southern Mississippi · $57,154 University of Kansas · $64,045 Grand Valley State University · $52,078 San Francisco State University · $44,221 Utah State University · $59,779 University of Northern Iowa · $59,474 Western Washington University · $55,879 Pennsylvania Western University · $56,901 Pittsburg State University · $59,735 University of South Alabama · $58,006 Kansas State University · $63,274 University of Wyoming · $57,150 Cal State San Marcos · $55,485 Sam Houston State University · $56,483 University of Arkansas at Monticello · $58,913 Wayne State College · $58,224 Weber State University · $53,473 Villanova University · $70,301 Texas Christian University · $65,556 Liberty University · $54,414 Concordia University - Nebraska · $58,556 Brigham Young University · $65,940 Elmhurst University · $56,444 Samford University · $60,823 Emory & Henry University · $50,172 DePaul University · $56,755 Valparaiso University · $45,579 University of Miami · $61,686 Syracuse University · $68,841 Clark University · $57,134 George Washington University · $73,663 Hofstra University · $58,710 Westminster University · $55,217 University of Denver · $79,975 Park University · $67,064 Middlebury College · $72,574 Colgate University · $72,831 UCLA · $62,424 University of Florida · $60,607 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · $49,149 University of Georgia · $59,995 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign · $62,914 University of Texas at Austin · $70,315 University of Wisconsin - Madison · $63,348 Florida State University · $47,981 Dartmouth · $70,068 University of Southern California · $76,919 Military: mean $65,636 Female-only: mean $58,496 Liberal Arts: mean $55,900 Public University: mean $57,198 Religious University: mean $58,454 Private University: mean $65,286 Liberal Arts 1–15: mean $72,703 Public University 1–15: mean $59,592 Private University 1–30: mean $73,494 All colleges: p10 $49,541 All colleges: p90 $67,421
Each dot = a college · y = degree-weighted earnings

Majors in this category

Major Colleges Degrees ▼ Male/Female Intl Earnings Employment
Geography & Cartography 258 3,013 59% / 41% 3% $58,080 95%
Geography 219 1,821 59% / 41% 2% $57,422 95%
Geography and Environmental Studies 43 637 49% / 51% 3% $58,605 97%
Geographic Information Science and Cartography 35 382 70% / 30% 6% $59,220 94%
Geographic Information Science 17 59 83% / 17% 2% $56,595 94%
Geospatial Information Science 1 26 62% / 38% 0% $66,019
Geography and Environmental Sciences 1 20 65% / 35% 0% $54,943
Geomatics 3 16 75% / 25% 0% $72,018 96%
Cartography and Geographic Information Systems 1 16 88% / 12% 12% $63,348 98%
Geography and Geographic Information Science 1 13 69% / 31% 15% $62,914 95%
Geography and Geospatial Science 1 10 70% / 30% 0% $57,561
Geography and Anthropology 1 7 43% / 57% 0%
Geospatial Sciences 1 6 67% / 33% 0% $59,525