Online Geography Degree Programs

An online geography degree involves the study of human beings and the way in which they interact with their environment through physical and cultural relationships.

The purpose of geography is to analyze and interpret the dispersion of physical and cultural events at three levels: regional and global levels. Geographers use research to map the world and address issues related to the environment and the way people connect with it. Geography is one of the oldest and well developed areas of study and is very relevant to many aspect of social science. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a relatively new area in geographical technology and is used in nontraditional fields to track locations and map out regions. An accredited online degree in geography leads to many career paths that include cartography, GIS, geological survey, climatologist, soil conservationist and wildlife preservation.

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Geography Education and Training

You can complete your BA/Social Science - Geography. Emerging technologies have developed new professions, such as GIS experts, who use computer programs to develop maps. Geographers work with governments to assist with urban planning, population estimations and project development management. Other careers include working in corporations, non-profit organizations, higher education (academia), real estate, City planning, environmental management and conservation, ecology, landscape architecture, research, education, ecology, demography and population estimation, climatology, cartography, and climatology.

Geography is ideal for those students with an interest in liberal arts, humanities, international issues, environmental issues and sciences. Courses vary in range and include various concentrations for example urban geography, economic geography, environmental studies, climatology, and cultural geography

Additional courses toward a geography degree may include fieldwork, physical geography, remote sensing, mathematics and science courses as well as quantitative research methods and statistics. Topics covered can also include earth sciences, biodiversity, globalization, ecosystems, world religions, geomorphology, climatology, hydrology, soil and water conservation, forestry, environmentalism and remote sensing. In addition, classes may also be specific to a continent, country, or region.

Geography Careers

There are different disciplines with an online geography degree. GIS careers in particular are a growing field. Physical geographers study the terrain, climate, soil and vegetation as well as biogeography, global change, geomorphology, cryosphere and mountain geography, coastal and marine geography. Applied geography uses knowledge and skill to tackle societal problems, where cartography is the study and development of maps while GIS specialists develop databases of information for mapping.

Population geography deals with birth, death and marriage patterns, cultural geography examines the relationship of geography and cultural phenomena. Medical geography looks at the disease spreading patterns, death, illness and health care in the environment. Urban and transportation geography looks at cities and metropolitan areas. Historical geography tracks human and physical geography

Human geography deals with the interaction of people and the earth. Economic geographers examine the allocation of resources and wealth, and political geographers examine the relationship between geography and political happenings.

Expected Salary and Projected Career Growth

According to the United States Bureau of Labor, students with a campus or online geography degree can earn between $40,000 and $80,000 with a median income of about $62,900 a year depending on the specialization. Urban and regional planner jobs are projected to grow by 15% with a median salary of $56,600. Surveyor and cartographer jobs are expected to increase by 21% over the next ten years with an average income of $48,000. Atmospheric scientists can make up to $77,000 a year and environmental scientists and hydrologists can make about $56,000 on average.