Professional Science Master Degrees

[jyanes]

Has anyone here had any experience with the Professional Science Masters degrees? See the link below:

http://www.sciencemasters.com"

I'm looking specifically at the physics degrees offered by USC and the University of Arizona.

I would appreciate any first-hand experience or comments heard regarding these degrees in terms of their quality and overall career prospects for people interested in industry.

Thanks.

 

[Moonbear]

I have never heard of such a program before, so don't really know what to think about it or what the prospects of someone with such a degree would be. And, regardless of the quality of the program, that might be your major obstacle to using it to advance your career...if nobody knows what the degree is or the reputation of such programs, they might be skeptical of it when you're applying for jobs. We can see if others weigh in who have heard of it.

 

[robphy]

From a little googling...

From the Chronicle...
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2003/06/2003061701c.htm
Reviving a 'Lesser' Degree in the Sciences (Tuesday, June 17, 2003)

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Michigan State and many other institutions around the country now offer "professional science master's degrees" for people who love science but can't see themselves taking the Ph.D. track. Instead of totally immersing themselves in a narrow field of research, students get a multidisciplinary education that typically includes courses in business and management. Many educators hope the professional science master's will soon become the M.B.A. of the science world, a prestigious degree that can take students to the upper reaches of industry and government.

[snip]

The Sloan Foundation has created a Web site about its professional science master's programs.
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a Web site points to http://www.sciencemasters.com/From the Sloan foundation...
http://www.sloan.org/programs/edu_careers.shtml
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Professional Science Master's Degrees
Michael Teitelbaum, Vice President
The goal of this program is to bring into being a new type of master's degree in the sciences that equips people for work outside academia. We seek to spur a significant movement in this direction through the support of exemplary efforts at selected US universities. Our focus is on Professional Science Master's degrees, heavily oriented toward coursework, requiring a full-time student two years to obtain. Success of these types of programs requires that they are aligned with the interests of both the faculty and students. Faculty must be committed and enthusiastic about the new programs. Preliminary indications show that strong job markets exist for the graduates.
...
For information about all Sloan-supported MS programs, and for news about the growth of master's degrees in sciences, visit the website of the Sloan Science Master's Outreach Initiative, http://www.sciencemasters.com/.
"

"
In 2000 and in 2001, the Foundation invited proposals for new "single-track" Professional Master's Degrees in Bioinformatics...
http://www.sloan.org/programs/pmd.shtml
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Here's a list of programs: http://www.sciencemasters.com/Default.aspx?tabid=58