The graduate program in geological sciences offers both doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) and master of science (M.S.) degrees to full- and part-time students. The program is designed to provide a challenging yet fostering educational atmosphere that encourages independent and critical thinking, the development of communication and teaching skills, and the performance of creative and original research. Primary areas of study include marine geology, paleoceanography, biogeochemistry, marine micropaleontology, paleoclimatology, structure and regional tectonics, seismology, basin analysis, volcanology, geochemistry and geochronology, paleomagnetics, experimental petrology, and planetary geology. A graduate certificate program is available in quaternary studies.

Admission requirements include an undergraduate bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, or master of science degree (B.A., B.S., or M.S.) in geology or a related science, GPA greater than 3.0, satisfactory GRE scores, and three letters of recommendation. Nearly all full-time graduate students are supported by fellowships, teaching assistantships, and/or research grants. Faculty grants and university funds provide students with additional support for study and research during the school year and summer, as well as participation at regional and national conferences.

The Ph.D. requires a minimum of 24 credits of coursework plus research credits totaling at least 72 credits overall. (For students transferring to Rutgers, a maximum of 24 course credits may be transferred.) To advance to Ph.D. candidacy, in addition to coursework, the student must: (1) successfully pass oral and written qualifying examinations; and (2) prepare and defend a written dissertation proposal. For completion of the Ph.D., the candidate must successfully present and defend a dissertation.

The M.S. degree requires 24 credits of coursework and 6 credits of research. In addition to coursework, the student must submit a short written thesis proposal. The M.S. degree is granted following completion of the written thesis, approved by the thesis adviser and committee, and its open departmental oral defense.

Graduate student research projects can take full advantage of the region's diverse geology as well as part of numerous ongoing faculty research projects worldwide including the Appalachian Paleozoic fold and thrust belt; Triassic-Jurassic rift basins; the Mesozoic-Cenozoic coastal plain; the volcanic zone of Central America, Antarctica, and Iceland; the East African rift system; Atlantic offshore basins; the Newark Basin Drilling Project; and the Coastal Plain Drilling Project, as well as on archival Deep Sea Drilling Project and Ocean Drilling Program core materials.

Shared faculty, research, and facilities with Rutgers' Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, as well as with departments of anthropology, environmental sciences, geography, chemistry, and physics, offer additional means of study and research possibilities. Facilities and resources at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the American Museum of Natural History are a few of the many nearby northeast research resources. In addition to coursework at Rutgers, students can take advantage of listings at nearby Princeton and Columbia universities.