Cal Poly Humboldt offers a Masters degree with a Fisheries option under the Natural Resources Graduate Program. Typically, graduate students are enrolled for at least four semesters of coursework.  Successful completion of a thesis and thesis defense are required for the Fisheries Master of Science degree.

Admission Requirements

Graduate applicant files are reviewed for acceptability and applicant interests by all of the Fisheries Biology faculty members. Successful applicants usually have strong academic records, most frequently having majored in Fisheries Biology or Biological Sciences (Biology, Marine Biology, Ecology) as undergraduates. However, a strong undergraduate record does not assure acceptance into the graduate program. Acceptance depends strongly on a successful matching up of an applicant's interest, as expressed in the graduate application statement or letter, and research interests of Humboldt faculty members. Even if a successful match up results, acceptance requires that a Fisheries Biology faculty member is in a position to take on a new graduate student. Thus, rejection does not necessarily imply lack of acceptability.

Financial support for graduate students varies substantially among faculty members. Students may be accepted with or without assurance of stipend support and stipend levels vary according to sources of research support. Most Fisheries Biology faculty members try hard to provide substantial financial support for their graduate students. Graduate program tuition and fees for California residents are much less than for nonresidents; residency may be established one year after arrival in California. Although Humboldt does not offer outright tuition waivers for outstanding applicants, non-resident applicants may qualify for waiver of some tuition costs through a competitive program. Generally, the strongest non-resident applicants are recommended by faculty for competition in this program and, if successful, may have the first year tuition fees for most or all units reduced to those of resident students.