AN OVERVIEW
The Master of Science degree in Packaging provides a broad education with specialized training in one of the areas of study listed below:
Product and/or package damage in the physial distribution environment.
Barrier characteristics of packaging systems and materials.
Quality preservation and storage stability of packaged products.
Mechanical properties of packaging materials and systems.
Distribution packaging.
Packaging systems development and optimization.
Medical/pharmaceutical packaging
Human factors in packaging.
Environnmental impacts of packaging.
Recycling.
Automatic identification.
Packaging in business and martketing
M.S. CURRICULUM
Core courses
The formal program for the M.S. degree consists of a minimum of 30 acceptable course credits. Students will take a minimum of 16 credits of the total required for the master's degree in courses at the 800 and 900 levels. Sixteen of the 30 credits must be taken in packaging courses, special problems and/or research. Students must complete PKG 827 and either PKG 804 or PKG 815.
THESIS OPTIONS
In the Plan A thesis option, thesis credits (PKG 899) must equal at least 6 but not more than 9 credits of 800-level packaging courses must be completed, excluding PKG 888, 890 and 899. The remaining credits can be taken from packaging courses at the 400 level or higher or approved courses from other departments.
In the Plan B non-thesis option, PKG 888 (2 credits) is required. 12 credits of 800-level packaging courses must be completed, excluding PKG 888, 890, and 899. The remaining credits can be taken from packaging courses at the 400 level or higher or approved courses from other departments.
Graduate students are required to participate in a research seminar program in which they present the results of their thesis or project to the faculty and graduate students of the department. They are also required to attend seminars given by fellow students or guest lecturers.
Collateral courses
Students who do not have the equivalent of a bachelor's degree in packaging must enroll in core undergraduate packaging courses (or alternatively PKG 801, 802 & 803), in addition to completing the regular M.S. requirements.
ADMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS
M.S. Program
§ Bachelor's degree in packaging or a related field.
§ 3.0 (B) grade point average in last two years of undergraduate program.
§ One year of college physics.
§ One year of college chemistry, including introductory organic chemistry.
§ One semester of calculus.
§ Submission of Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores.
§ Three letters of recommendation.
International students whose native language is not English must also submit test scores demonstrating adequate knowledge of the English language.
Students may begin their graduate programs either in the fall semester (late August) or the spring semester (January). For full consideration for financial aid, PhD students should apply before January and MS students before March for admission for fall semester. Admission for summer semester (May) is recommended only for students who must enroll in intensive English classes.
Links to Information:
The Graduate Student Handbook provides detailed information regarding the M.S. programs on-campus and on-line. Click HERE for a copy.
Description of Courses: Click HERE (master's level courses are 800 level)
Tuition, Fees & Housing: Click HERE for calculator
Applying to Graduate School: Click HERE for link to application information and form.
Link to Forms:
For More Information Contact:
Dr. Susan SelkeGraduate Adviser
The School of Packaging
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1223
Phone (517) 353-3869
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