California State University Fullerton

Because of its broad scope, contemporary chemistry offers exciting employment opportunities in rapidly growing fields, such as materials science, polymers, biochemistry, biotechnology, pharmaceutical/medicinal chemistry, chemical education research and environmental science. Graduates with a master's degree in chemistry are prepared to enter any of these fields or others, since chemistry is the central science with connections to physics and mathematics, biology and medicine, and environmental sciences. According to the American Chemical Society, the national professional association for chemists, "Many predict a growing role for chemistry as we tackle the major issues confronting the world in the 21st century: providing energy, responding to regulation, protecting the environment, improving health and feeding the world."

WHY PURSUE THE MASTER OF SCIENCE IN CHEMISTRY?

The reasons for pursuing a master's degree in chemistry are as diverse as our students. Many obtain their master's degree to gain entry into industry or government positions that require a greater degree of expertise, responsibility and independence that cannot be expected of a candidate with a bachelor's degree. Others use the master's program as a stepping-stone to doctoral studies by improving their grade point average (GPA) and enhancing their research experience. Still other students obtain the master's degree to gain expertise in chemical education - in fact, a number of our graduates are teaching at local community colleges.