Students who are interested in becoming land surveyors should complete a two-year associate degree or a four-year bachelor's degree program in this field. Some schools, such as Great Basin College in Nevada, actually provide online land surveying courses, but students typically still have to meet on campus at some point to learn how to use land surveying equipment, according to Education-Portal.com. Degree programs will prepare students to become land surveyors, land use specialists or computer-aided design operators, with most land surveyors holding a bachelor's degree. Certificate programs that last about a year are also available at land surveyor schools and prepare students for positions as land surveying assistants or cartographer assistants.
Classes at a land surveying school cover topics such as analytic geometry, technical writing for surveying, business fundamentals/ethics, geodetic surveying, global positioning systems and even subdivision design. Other land surveying math courses involve trigonometry, pre-calculus and statistics, according to Metropolitan Community College in Missouri. Program students also learn traditional board drafting as well as AutoCAD, a computer-aided design program. They study how to operate measuring devices, differential leveling for elevation changes and angle/distance measurement.
When looking for land surveying schools, students should select schools that are accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). Graduating from an accredited school will make students eligible to be licensed in this field, which is required by most states. In addition, schools should prepare students to pass the Fundamentals of Surveying (FS) exam through the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), which is also necessary for licensure.
Land surveying schools additionally should provide internship opportunities for students, which will give them hands-on work experience. Students need a minimum of four years of field experience under the supervision of a licensed surveyor to take the Principles and Practice of Surveying (PS) exam to become a licensed surveyor after first passing the FS exam. Internships are available through local, state or federal governments, construction companies or private surveying firms.