The College of Family and Consumer Sciences offers a nonthesis degree program designed to enhance the skills of post-baccalaureate individuals whose work or family obligations preclue study on the Ames campus. Completion of the MFCS degree has permitted many individuals to obtain the credential needed for advancement while continuing their current employment. The program is considered to be a professional master's degree and not preparation for further graduate study.
Students select either a comprehensive option or a specialization option.
The comprehensive option can be followed on or off-campus and requires 36 credits covering a variety of family and consumer sciences subject matter. The FFP specialization, offered in collaboration with five other universities in the Great Plains, is offered exclusively through courses on the Web. The Program of Study committee, in consultation with the student, establishes the courses to be taken and the acceptability of transfer credits. The major professor is selected from the discipline in which the concentration of coursework will be taken. Written and oral final integrative examinations are required in lieu of a thesis or creative component.