The Master of Professional Studies (M.P.S.) in Agriculture and Life Sciences degree is a course-based, one year, master's level degree offered by the Field of Food Science and Technology at Cornell. The M.P.S. is a professional degree designed for people who are already in a professional career but desire to upgrade their skills and knowledge. The M.P.S. is also suitable for students who possess a non-food science, but related, bachelor degree who want to pursue a career in food science and want to acquire the necessary knowledge base. We do not consider the M.P.S. a terminal degree that is, students who confer an M.P.S in food science are eligible to apply to our Ph.D. program. However, other food science graduate programs may feel differently. Please be sure to ask other food science graduate programs if you would be eligible to apply to their Ph.D. program with an M.P.S.
Students who hold a non-science bachelor degree (e.g. history, English, business, etc) and are interested in studying food science at the graduate level can prepare themselves for the M.P.S degree by successfully completing approximately 15 credit hours of science-based coursework prior to applying. Suggested courses include General Biology, Calculus, Chemistry with lab, Organic Chemistry with lab, Physics, and Microbiology.
In addition to the basic M.P.S. degree, the Field of Food Science and Technology offers specialized M.P.S. degrees in the following areas (click on the specialization to learn more):
Master of Professional Studies (M.P.S.) Degree Requirements
- Satisfactory completion of a minimum of 30 credit hours as agreed upon with the Special Committee (for specific details regarding credit hour requirement, click here to visit the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences M.P.S. web site)
- Completion of at least two semesters in residence
- Completion and submission of a problem-solving project approved by the advisor. The project may be literature-based or research-based.
- Completion of the degree within four years of admission
Unlike the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees, the M.P.S. degree does not require an oral exam, teaching experience or a research seminar. However, we do encourage our M.P.S. students to gain teaching experience by assisting with a food science class for which class credits can be earned. For additional information about the M.P.S, degree program, visit the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences web site at http://www.cals.cornell.edu/cals/prospective/mps/index.cfm.