KGI Changes MBS Degree Name to Master of Business and Science

The Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) Henry E. Riggs School of Applied Life Sciences faculty members have voted to change the name of the MBS program to Master of Business and Science.

Alumni, current students, and faculty provided feedback on the change, and the Master of Business and Science name is a clearer depiction of the program’s intersection between the two fields.

“The Master of Business and Science name provides clarity to prospective students about the course of study,” School of Applied Life Sciences Dean Steve Casper said. “For graduates entering the workforce, this name change will make it easier to accurately promote the interdisciplinary team-based learning they acquired at KGI.”

The two-year MBS program is designed to give students the skills, insights, and real-world experience to succeed in industry. KGI offers its MBS students many opportunities to work with companies in its extensive network of biotech and healthcare companies. 

These opportunities start in the first year with team-organized reports for outside companies, continue during the summer with paid internships, and culminate in the second year with the capstone Team Master’s Project (TMP).

“Along with our other programs, the MBS degree provides pathways for our students to become leaders in industry,” KGI President Sheldon Schuster said. “With more than 1,000 alumni, our entire community is incredibly proud of their success.”

KGI was founded in 1997 and MBS served as the school’s flagship program, conferring its first degrees in 2002. The School of Applied Life Sciences added the PhD program in 2006, Postdoctoral Professional Masters in 2009, Postbaccalaureate Premedical Certificate in 2010, and the Master of Engineering in Biopharmaceutical Processing in 2016.

The addition of the School of Pharmacy has helped grow KGI’s overall enrollment from 169 students in 2013-14 to more than 500 in 2017-2018. To learn more about all of KGI’s academic programs, visit kgi.edu/academic-programs.