Astronomy at the University of Maryland

Department of Astronomy Graduate Program

The University of Maryland at College Park offers a Ph.D. in Astronomy. It is common that students will get an M.S. degree in the course of their Ph.D. studies, but only applications for the Ph.D. program will be accepted. An overview of the admission and course requirements for this program is outlined below.

If you have any questions about the Astronomy Graduate Program, please contact a member of the Graduate Entrance Committee. If you have questions about your application, contact Mary Ann Phillips.
Questions about our graduate program should be directed to a member of the the Graduate Entrance Committee: Dr. Sylvain Veilleux, Chairman.

Course Information

Lists of Astronomy related courses are available in a couple of formats:
  • An index of each undergraduate and graduate level course in the Astronomy Department. This list also includes links to descriptions of individual classes as well links to particular class sites.
  • The university maintains a schedule of the courses offered by the Department of Astronomy for each semester. These lists also include the prerequisites, current status of enrollment, and waitlist sizes for each class.

Graduate Program Information

Click the above link for a complete and printable version of the Astronomy Handbook for Graduate Students. This and section links below require the Adobe Acrobat Reader.
  1. Introduction
    1. General
    2. Physics/Astronomy
    3. Degree Options
  2. Admission
  3. General Information
    1. Advising - Student's Role
    2. Assistantships
    3. Transfer and Duration of Credits
    4. Status in the University
      1. Full-Time/Part-Time
      2. Residency
  4. PhD Program
    1. Course Requirements
      1. University Requirements
      2. Department of Astronomy Requirements
    2. Stage 1 - From Admission to Graduate School to Admission to the PhD
      1. The Qualifier
      2. Second Year Research Project
      3. Admission to the PhD Program
    3. Stage 2 -- Admission to Candidacy
      1. Regulations
    4. Stage 3 -- Candidacy to the PhD
      1. Regulations
  5. MS Program
    1. Thesis Option
      1. Course Requirements
      2. Thesis
      3. Regulations
    2. Non-Thesis Option
      1. Course Requirements and Regulations
  6. Special Status
    1. Part-Time Students
    2. Provisionally Admitted Students
  7. Apply On-line


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Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742-2421
Phone: (301) 405-3001    FAX: (301) 314-9067

Comments and questions may be directed to webmaster@astro.umd.edu
Page updated on: 05-Nov-2007.