For nearly all geoscience employment sectors, exclusive of those that are academic and research oriented (college and university teaching, national laboratories, federal and industrial research) the master's degree is the preferred degree credential for new hires. Given this new-hire degree preference by employers, AGI conducted a survey to examine geoscience master's-degree programs in the United States to provide departments and students with a greater awareness of the degree's significance. The survey was designed to distinguish master's programs that are formally "terminal" (stand alone or running parallel to other degree programs) from those that are a stepping stone to a PhD.