The Department of Geography and the Environment at Syracuse University is excited to welcome applicants to its MA and PhD programs with an expected matriculation of Fall 2027. Our faculty’s expertise spans the breadth of the discipline, including Cultural Geography and the Environmental Humanities, Environment-Society, GISciences and Geospatial Technologies, Physical Geography, Political Geography and Political Economy, and Urban and Community Geography.
Admitted PhD students are guaranteed 5 years of funding, combining both fellowships and teaching assistantships. The department and the university also offer a wide range of research fellowships to support independent research during summer months and numerous professional development opportunities across campus.
While our department can no longer offer full funding to admitted MA students, we are able to offer competitive tuition scholarships that can substantially defray the cost of attendance. Our 30-credit MA program prepares students to apply for further PhD study, to seek employment in the professional world, and to benefit from other graduate programs in the Maxwell School, including Public Administration, Public Health, and more.
Complete applications are due by January 1, 2027.
Prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to contact potential advisors. However, we strongly discourage the use of AI/LLM platforms to develop email templates or sample proposals. Applicants who use those platforms may not receive any reply at all to their queries.
The department will be hosting two Zoom-based informational events this fall. Although the sessions will focus on Syracuse, I’ll also try to offer a little bit of insight into the graduate application process more generally.
Please use the following links to register for the event of your choice:
Tuesday, September 29, 12:00 pm EST
https://graduate.admissions.go.syr.edu/register/geo-9-29-2026
Thursday, November 5, 12:00 pm EST
https://graduate.admissions.go.syr.edu/register/geo-11-5-26
All other questions can be directed to Timur Hammond, our department’s Director of Graduate Studies, at geograddirector@syr.edu.