Why Earn an MS in GIS from Calvin? 

Here’s why earning a Master of Science in Geographic Information Science from Calvin's nationally ranked program is a smart, future-focused choice: 

• Ranked #14 nationally. Calvin's online MS in GIS is ranked alongside programs from Johns Hopkins, UW-Madison, NC State, and USC, schools with student bodies twice to twenty times Calvin's size. We are the top-ranked program in Michigan and the top-ranked program for our size.
• The only Christian online MS in GIS in the country. Calvin is the only Christian university where you can earn a Master of Science in GIS online. That distinction matters because GIS sits at the center of real ethical questions: privacy, surveillance, mapping in conflict zones, the use of spatial data in policing and public health. Our curriculum doesn't avoid those questions, it teaches you to navigate them. Students from any background are welcome; the faith dimension shapes how we teach, not who can enroll.
• Built on the UCGIS GIS&T Body of Knowledge. The University Consortium for Geographic Information Science publishes the field's standard curriculum framework. Calvin's program is built directly on it, which means what you learn here aligns with what employers, certification bodies, and other institutions in the field expect.
• Faculty who do the work. Program director Dr. Jason VanHorn earned his PhD at Ohio State under Dr. Mei-Po Kwan, widely considered the foremost GIS researcher in the world. His own research applies GIS to counter-terrorism analysis, cartographic philosophy, and physical geography. The full faculty includes tenured professors and adjuncts with active careers in the field.
• Hands-on with the technology that defines the field. You will train on ESRI ArcGIS Pro, Python for geospatial analysis, drones for remote sensing, and 3D terrain modeling, through a virtual lab component built into every course. This is not a theoretical program.