Geographic Information Systems Technology
Master of Science
of All Higher-Ed Institutions
-Center for World University Rankings, 2022
In Best Value Among Arizona's Public Universities
- Payscale, 2022
Quick Facts
College of Social And Behavioral Sciences
GIST programs at the University of Arizona emphasize cutting-edge trends and have become some of the largest and most successful programs in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Our newly redesigned graduate curricula respond to emerging technologies in GIST-related fields, focusing on web, mobile and open source applications to ensure graduates are ready for an ever-evolving workplace.
Arizona is dedicated to offering the highest-quality GIST programs available, both in person and online. That’s why our programs meet the standards of the GIST Body of Knowledge compiled by the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science, which guarantees the program provides a comprehensive overview of GIST topics such as programming and development, data capture and management, analytics and modeling, and cartography and visualization. Our online instructional methodology meets all relevant standards for quality in online education. As a result, MS-GIST graduates often find or advance related careers in fields such as public administration, natural and cultural resources, IT engineering, and defense.
Other amazing features of this program include:
- Earning your MS-GIST online in 18 months from a top-ranked geography department with some of the most cost-effective programs available.
- Learning about:
- Current remote sensing and LiDAR processing skills.
- Professional geodata analytics and the latest trends in big data applications to geospatial analysis.
- The fundamentals of web GIS, mobile GIS and GIS programming with Python.
- Gaining hands-on experience in the use of leading proprietary GIS/remote sensing software (e.g., ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online, ERDAS) and open source solutions such as QGIS.
- Working with the Arizona’s internationally renowned faculty.
*Residents of some U.S. Territories may not be eligible. Please see our Eligibility & State Authorization page for more information.
The curriculum for this program includes:
Skills
Earning your Master of Science in Geographic Information Systems Technology will build core skills, including:
- ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Online
- Cartography
- Data modeling and automation
- Data science
- Data visualization
- Geoprocessing and geodatabases
- LiDAR and drones
- Open source programming
- Python programming
- Web mapping

Listen UA GIST Podcast
Tune in to the GIST podcast for conversations with alumni and specialists in the geospatial industry across the state of Arizona and beyond.