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.
Please contact Jim Rivard to apply for this program, and to ensure it is a good fit for you and aligns with your career goals.
We evaluate applications on a rolling basis and encourage applicants to submit applications no later than May 1 if starting FOR 810 in August (recommended program start time – summer semester) which will ensure full consideration and likely capacity for enrollment. If space allows, we will continue to review applications until June 30. Applications are due November 30 for those taking initial courses in spring semester. If starting in spring semester, students are only permitted to enroll in FOR 419.
The Hybrid Online MS program can be started in the summer semester or spring semester. You cannot begin the program in the fall semester. The recommended start time is summer semester. If you start the program in the summer semester you are eligible to enroll in FOR 810 ONLY. If you start the program in the spring semester you are eligible to enroll in FOR 419 ONLY.
The tuition rate for the Hybrid Online MS in academic year 2024-2025 is $938/credit hour. This rate does not include books and course fees, which will vary. 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
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