The Hybrid Online MS in Forestry is a professional degree designed for individuals with a Bachelor’s degree (BA or BS) in a field other than forestry who would like to pursue a career in forestry. The program is uniquely tailored to learners that need flexibility, with the majority of the courses delivered in an online format. The structure of the program can accommodate students with rigid schedules and personal and professional commitments.
Forestry students at Michigan State University are part of a legacy established in 1902 that has shaped vibrant forest ecosystems all over the world. To ensure healthy forests for our future, MSU Forestry provides the education for forestry professionals to optimize the balance among conserving forest ecosystems, the demand for forest products, and other forest ecosystem services, guided by leading faculty in a top 10 forestry program globally (QS Rankings, Agriculture & Forestry category 2021).
The structure of the hybrid online MS program includes:
- One intensive, field-based in-person short course (nine days)
- A series of asynchronous, online courses, with guided exercises and projects for you to complete in forests near you
- A final, intensive, in-person capstone project and examination (nine days)
While working on your degree, you will learn how to sustainably manage forests while considering landowner and societal values and goals. The topics include tree biology/identification, forest measurements/sampling, silviculture, forest ecology, human dimensions of forestry, GIS (geographic information systems), forest economics and management.
The field of forestry is very broad and includes a wide variety of career paths. Some of the more common job possibilities for students immediately after graduation are forester, silviculturist, forest restoration manager, forestry consultant, carbon analyst, and forest certification specialist.
The tuition rate for the Hybrid Online MS varies and does not include books and course fees. More information on tuition rates.
The Hybrid Online MS has achieved ‘candidacy status’ – the first milestone in the accreditation process – by the Society of American Foresters under the forestry standard.
Many MSU Forestry alumni go on to work at companies that manage millions of acres of forests, growing and managing trees and making wood products to better people’s lives and sustain the natural environment. Current job openings in forestry.
CONTACT
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James Rivard
Instructor, Forest Management
rivard12@msu.edu