Family and Consumer Sciences

The Department of Family and Consumer Sciences emphasizes issues in communities and the marketplace that affect individual consumers and households. There is also an interdisciplinary perspective on the various factors involved in consumerism.

Students develop knowledge of the contemporary societal issues and responsive philosophies of family and consumer sciences that help individuals and families achieve and maintain satisfying lives.

Courses span all areas of family and consumer sciences, including nutrition, human development over the lifespan, fashion merchandising and design, contemporary housing, family financial planning, insurance, residential management, and estate and retirement planning.

We offer two degrees in this discipline:

• The Bachelor of Science (B.S.) - Family and Consumer Sciences (Consumer Science) will prepare you for a profession in education, finance or human services. Our graduates find rewarding careers as financial planners, consumer educators, credit counselors, budget advisors, Cooperative Extension educators, and in banking and other professions. The curriculum also prepares students to meet all requirements for the Family Financial Planning Certificate, a valuable professional credential offered by the 1890 Family and Consumer Sciences – Distance Instructional Alliance (FCS-DIA).
• The Masters of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) - Teaching (Family and Consumer Sciences Education) develops professional teachers for secondary schools and provides all requirements for licensure. The curriculum prepares you for teaching family and consumer sciences in middle and high schools, where content includes health and nutrition, parenting, child development, fashion, family financial management and interior design.

Please contact the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences to arrange a tour of our facilities, or to find out more about a degree in consumer sciences.