New degree replaces MBA as a 'sure thing' for job security

So you have a college degree. Unfortunately, so do millions of other people in America.\nFour years of an undergraduate education hasn't cut it for a while. Two decades ago the solution was to get a Masters of Business Administration -- in the 1980s and '90s, the MBA was seen as a sure shot to economic success and security.\nIt no longer guarantees a job after graduation. Admissions officials speculate that the grim job outlook has led many potential business school applicants to either wait until the economy shows further improvement or give up the idea of earning an MBA.\nEnter the Professional Science Masters, the most common route science majors have taken in the past is to continue their education and research in academia for years, either by attaining a master's degree or going to medical school.\nAs the economy rebounds, there will be high demand for science-trained professionals, but ironically a shortage of potential hires, mostly because very few students in the U.S. major in the sciences -- except for those who want to go to med school. With the MBA lacking the appeal and power to impress as it once did, the PSM is on the verge of becoming the next way to guarantee employment, as it is multi-faceted, working on both a business and science level.\nThe PSM degree seeks to outsource-proof science and math graduates by typically mixing graduate level science or math with business, law and communications courses, creating a highly trained professional. It's very "flexible and portable" says Sheila Tobias, a Harvard graduate and the PSM program's outreach coordinator.\nTobias dreamed up the concept of the PSM in the mid-90s when she was conducting research for her book "Rethinking Science as a Career," and found to her surprise that of all the master's degrees awarded in the U.S. each year -- about 460,000 of them -- fewer than 3 percent were in math or science. \n"In the science and tech sectors, the PSM is a better fit than the MBA," Tobias said, "because it typically offers more technical content than the MBA, more business basics than the science Ph.D., and more information technology than both."\nFor a woman who wants to have children, the Ph.D. is unappealing. "The clock is ticking," said Laurie McNamara, who majored in chemistry at Hope College in Holland Michigan. "When is a woman going to find time to have a child if she is consumed in a research institution, working towards a Ph.D.? And even if she waits until after she gets her Ph.D., taking any significant time off may require her to give up her career."\nLike the masters, the PSM is a two-year commitment. Dissuaded by the time required to get a Ph.D., Tobias wanted to appeal to a specified audience -- the creative scientist who sought an alternative to the Ph.D. The appeal of the PSM rings true -- 40 percent of students are women while most of the nine hundred students enrolled are under 25.\n"The suit and tie world of the MBA graduate is not for everyone, especially not for scientists who feel much more comfortable in lab coats," Tobias said. \nHer theories about the PSM's appeal have been proven accurate, with enrollment and expansion growing rapidly. When the PSM debuted in 1997, only six universities offered the degree. In 2004, 45 institutions are offering it and in 2007, a projected 105 campuses will. The first crop of 80 students graduated in 2002, and 400 more will graduate in May. \nTobais said, "Our graduates go onto careers in consulting, bioinformatics, working for startups and patent lawyers, it is quite multi-faceted."\nThe program differs depending on the institution, but must meet the following qualifications -- It must be two years in duration, all science courses must be graduate level, an internship or equivalent must be incorporated, and a set of advisors in business and the faculty must meet regularly to speak about the needs of the PSM.