Massachuetts School of Survey

The Massachusetts School of Survey is licensed by the Massachusetts Department of Education as a correspondence school. Our courses are recognized by the New Hampshire Board of Registration for Continuing Education Units and our credits have been accepted for degree credit at some universities when requested. In addition, the School offers refresher courses for students preparing to take the state’s SIT (Surveyor in Training) and PLS (Professional Land Surveying) exams for licensing twice a year a few weeks before each exam is held.

In 1970, in response to membership demand, the Eastern Massachusetts Association of Land Surveyors (EMALS) decided to provide continuing education instruction for its membership and created the Massachusetts School of Survey.

Until recently, the land surveying profession has been moving in two directions at the same time. The scope of the profession has expanded by leaps and bounds in its complexity and its demand for sophisticated knowledge on the part of its personnel. At the same time, our universities have reduced the amount of surveying instruction they offer. The result is a vast and growing gap between the need and the opportunity for training.

The University of Maine at Orono offers a four-year degree program in land surveying. Wentworth Institute of Technology offers a certificate program with courses that are transferable. But for interested students who can’t access courses at either of these educational institutions, the Massachusetts School of Survey offers an alternative:  correspondence courses that help working professionals get the training they need to move forward in their careers.

The Massachusetts School of Survey, a non-profit organization run by and for surveyors, is a school dedicated to narrowing the gap. We are doing this by designing our courses primarily as a source of training to those who are now working in the profession.

The purpose of our courses is twofold. One is to provide the bread and butter information and skills that will enable students to improve their work. The other purpose is to provide surveyors with the opportunity to grow beyond their capacity to perform their everyday duties and to attain a more professional status as authorities in the field of surveying. Unlike four-year college or junior college curriculums, all of these courses are aimed primarily at the practicing surveyor or technician who is working and lacks opportunity for full-time study.