Academic Programs
Students in nearly every discipline can benefit from the use of GIS and a greater understanding of GIScience to conduct basic and applied research and support better decision-making. Kansas State University offers a comprehensive set of introductory, intermediate, and advanced courses in GIScience.
Pursue a Career in GIScience
Graduates with expertise in GIS and Geographic Information Science (GIScience) enjoy excellent employment prospects and competitive salaries in a variety of career fields in the natural sciences, social sciences, and engineering. On the job duties might include analyzing spatial data with mapping software, developing digital maps, designing and maintaining spatially-enabled databases, writing programs and scripts to improve analyses, and developing custom software applications to deliver geographic services to end users.
As one of the twenty fastest-growing occupations in the U.S. over the next decade, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts 15% job growth for GIS professionals nationally and a 24% increase in Kansas. With a median annual salary exceeding $65,000, GIS careers are highly dispersed across many job titles and fields, most of which are expected to see continued and significant job growth into the future. As with the career "geographer", GIS is among the most important skills for today’s most highly-ranked science jobs.