Research leading to the M.S. thesis is the most important part of graduate study in geology at Kansas State University. Students usually select a faculty advisor and develop research and course plans during their first term and begin the research project during their second term. The minimum requirements for the M.S. degree in geology are 30 semester hours of graduate courses under one of the following options: Option A: thesis option - This option, required of all students entering the graduate program as teaching or research assistants, requires the satisfactory completion of a master's thesis. Six credit hours of GEOL 899 Master's Thesis Research may be included in the 30-hour requirement. Option B: report option - This option is available to those students who have limited time for completion of a degree and are not contributing to the department's teaching or research efforts. Students choosing this option might include foreign students fully supported by their governments, or military personnel supported by the U. S. government, planning intense courses of study to complete the M.S. degree in the shortest possible time. Other students might include professional educators at the public school or community college level, or professional geologists with full-time employment, planning part-time studies to complete the M.S. degree over a period of years. Under the report option, students will not complete a thesis but will be required to satisfactorily complete a substantive report, representing a scholarly effort in the research or practice of geology. Two credit hours of GEOL 898 Master's Report Research may be included in the 30-hour requirement.