Surveying major

Surveying: courses, careers, and where to study

Surveying trains you to measure and map land, boundaries, and features with precision instruments, and to prepare the maps, plats, and reports that define property and guide construction.

Surveying applies mathematics and applied science to determining and recording the position, shape, and boundaries of land, water, and built features. Coursework moves through plane and geodetic surveying, traversing and leveling, boundary and land description, mensuration and coordinate geometry, and the legal principles behind property lines and easements. Students learn to operate and calibrate total stations, GPS and GNSS receivers, levels, and data collectors; to apply photointerpretation, photogrammetry, and basic cartography; and to reduce field measurements into maps, plats, legal descriptions, and survey reports, often with computer-aided drafting and geographic information systems. Where Geographic Information Science focuses on managing and analyzing spatial data and building digital maps from many sources, this field focuses on collecting precise field measurements and establishing the legal and physical positions those datasets depend on.

Most students enter through a certificate or associate degree as a surveying technician, and many states require a bachelor's degree plus supervised experience to become a licensed professional land surveyor. Licensure typically follows a path through the Fundamentals of Surveying exam, a period of work under a licensed surveyor, and the Principles and Practice of Surveying exam, with specific requirements set by each state's licensing board. Graduates work for surveying and engineering firms, construction companies, mapping and GIS providers, and federal, state, and local government agencies. A program is preparation for the field and the licensing path, not a guarantee of a job or a license, and pay and demand vary by employer, region, experience, and the local pace of construction and land development.

In federal data for the closely related occupation of surveyors, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a 2024 median wage of $72,740 and projects employment to grow about 4.4% from 2024 to 2034; a bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education for that occupation. National figures are occupation-wide medians across all experience levels, not starting wages or graduate outcomes.

Academic classification (CIP)

In the federal Classification of Instructional Programs, Surveying maps to CIP 15.1102, Surveying Technology/Surveying, within the ENGINEERING/ENGINEERING-RELATED TECHNOLOGIES/TECHNICIANS family. The official definition:

A program that prepares individuals to apply mathematical and scientific principles to the delineation, determination, planning and positioning of land tracts, land and water boundaries, land contours and features; and the preparation of related maps, charts and reports. Includes instruction in applied geodesy, computer graphics, photointerpretation, plane and geodetic surveying, mensuration, traversing, survey equipment operation and maintenance, instrument calibration, and basic cartography.

Source: U.S. Department of Education (NCES), Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) 2020. View on nces.ed.gov

What you'll study

  • Plane and geodetic surveying principles and coordinate systems
  • Operating and calibrating total stations, levels, and GPS/GNSS receivers
  • Running and adjusting traverses, leveling loops, and control networks
  • Boundary surveying, land descriptions, easements, and property law fundamentals
  • Coordinate geometry, mensuration, and survey computations
  • Photogrammetry, photointerpretation, and basic cartography
  • Preparing maps, plats, legal descriptions, and survey reports
  • Computer-aided drafting and geographic information systems for survey data
  • Construction staking, topographic mapping, and field-to-finish data collection

Typical careers

Typical salary range: Early-career wages vary by employer, region, and experience (BLS, 2024 surveyors median $72,740).Ranges are early-career estimates. Any BLS figure shown is the occupation-wide median across all experience levels, not a starting wage, and is informational only.

Related occupations

Occupations the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk associates with Surveying. Linked titles open a CampusPin career page with BLS pay and outlook data; others are listed for reference.

Source: U.S. Department of Education (NCES), Crosswalk: CIP 2020 to SOC 2018. A program of study does not guarantee any specific occupation.

Before you commit to a Surveying major

CampusPin does not rank programs. Use these prompts to pressure-test whether a specific Surveying program fits your goals, they are decision questions, not claims about any school.

Ask the Surveying department

  • Which concentrations or specializations are offered, and which faculty lead them?
  • What does the typical course sequence look like, and how much is required vs. elective?
  • What labs, studios, clinical placements, or research opportunities are available to undergraduates?
  • Is there a capstone, thesis, internship, or co-op requirement?

Ask current students & check the curriculum

  • How heavy is the workload, and how accessible is the faculty?
  • What internships or co-ops did you do, and where do recent graduates end up?
  • Does the required curriculum actually match the careers listed above?
  • How easy is it to add a minor, double major, or switch tracks later?
Accreditation & licensure: Becoming a licensed professional land surveyor is regulated by each state's licensing board, and requirements for education, supervised experience, and the Fundamentals of Surveying and Principles and Practice of Surveying exams vary by state; some surveying programs hold programmatic accreditation through ABET. Verify a program's accreditation and the current licensing rules with the school and your state board before enrolling.
Degree level & graduate study: Many Surveyingcareers are open with a bachelor's degree, but some, such as research, advanced-practice, or licensure-track roles, require a master's or doctorate. Check the typical entry-level education on each linked career page above before assuming a bachelor's is enough.

Find a Surveying program

CampusPin lists U.S. universities and community colleges that offer Surveying programs. Filter by state, tuition, school size, acceptance rate, and campus setting, no account required.

Search Surveying schools

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Related majors

Put this major in context

The salary above is an occupation-wide median from federal data, not a starting wage or a guarantee. These CampusPin guides and reports help you read it well, see where a Surveying degree can lead, and weigh it against cost and program quality.

Explore Engineering & Architecture careers

Median pay, job outlook, and the occupations this field covers.

How one major leads to many careers

Why a single Surveying degree can open more than one path, and how to read the occupations above.

Why a median wage is not a starting salary

How to read a BLS median, and why early-career pay usually sits below it.

When accreditation and licensure matter

How program accreditation and state licensure can shape a Surveying path before you enroll.

Does a pricier college pay off?

How college cost lines up with graduation and earnings, an association, not a ranking.

How this guide is sourced

This is an editorial guide from the CampusPin Editorial Team. Career and wage figures are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, occupation-wide medians across all experience levels, not starting wages, and link to each career page. Program availability comes from CampusPin's free institution search; CampusPin does not assert that any specific school offers this exact major until that program data is verified. Last reviewed 2026-06-15. How CampusPin sources data · Report a correction.