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A Career in Land Surveying
Land Surveying includes boundary retracement, land subdivision, topographic, construction layout, geodesy, hydrography, mining, forensics, and other specialized fields requiring accurate and reliable location of features and objects on the land.
How they do it?
- Research, investigate, and analyze evidence of land boundary location
- Set monuments and describe boundary location
- Measure and map the contour of the land
- Measure and calculate angles, distances, areas, volumes and positions
- Record and deliver results in the form of 3D data sets, maps, plats, descriptions, and reports
Using cutting-edge technology, combined with knowledge and experience, a Licensed Surveyor is a person qualified to determine the accurate position of objects on, above, or below, the surface of the earth. Land Surveyors creatively combine history, research, science, technology, and mathematics for the benefit of the health, safety, and welfare of the public and to ensure the quality of land and asset management.
Sounds like an interesting career, but is it practical?
According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, there were over 44,000 Professional Land Surveyors in 2014 with a median pay rate of $57,000 per year. The average age of today's surveyors is 58 years old, which means that in less than 10 years, nearly half of the Surveyors now employed will be retiring, opening up positions for more than 20,000 new professionals.
Want to learn more? Check out these links:
Your Career as a Land Surveyor
Thinking of Entering the Land Surveying Career Field
Schools that offer Land Surveying Degrees in or near Pennsylvania
Penn College of Technology: Williamsport, PA - Offers a two year program in Surveying Technology
Penn State University: Wilkes-Barre, PA Campus - Offers two and four year programs in Surveying
Alfred State University: Alfred, NY - Offers two and four year programs in Surveying
New Jersey Institute of Technology: Offers two and four year programs in Surveying
University of Akron: Offers two and four year programs in Surveying
University of Maine: four flexible programs: an Undergraduate Certificate in Surveying Engineering Technology, a B.S. in Surveying Engineering Technology, a Graduate Certificate in Surveying Engineering, and a PSM in Engineering and Business.
Financial Assistance
The Pennsylvania Land Surveyors Foundation offers more than $10,000 per year in scholarships for surveying students. Scholarships are available to High School Seniors applying to an accredited surveying degree program, and College Students enrolled in an accredited surveying degree program.
The National Society of Professional Surveyors offers $25,000 annually to students across the nation to support and encourage college education in the industry