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Family and Consumer Sciences

Program Contact

Nina Roofe, PhD, RDN, LD, FAND: Chair, Department of Nutrition and Family Sciences, and Graduate Program Coordinator
Telephone: (501) 450-5950 | Email: nroofe@uca.edu

[1] Objectives

The graduate program in family and consumer sciences leads to the Master of Science degree. The program is designed to serve the needs of qualified students preparing for family and consumer sciences careers in business, education, hospitals, industry, government, or community agencies, or for entering a doctoral program in family and consumer sciences or in a related discipline.

[2] Program Admission Requirements

Admission to the MS degree program in Family and Consumer Sciences requires a baccalaureate degree in Family and Consumer Sciences or an allied area. In addition to entrance requirements for the Graduate School, one of the following must be submitted:

  • Satisfactory scores on the General Test of the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) OR
  • Valid standard educator license OR
  • Proof of Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) certification

[3] Degree Requirements

The degree plan requires that students choose either the thesis or the non-thesis option. As noted below, the requirements for these options differ. Students in both options will take comprehensive examinations and complete a graduate portfolio.

[3.1] Thesis Option (30 hours)

Core Requirements (9 hours)

FACS 6300 Current Issues in Family and Consumer Sciences
FACS 6335 Evidence-Based Research in Nutrition or ASTL 6380 Research Methods or HLTH 6379 Research in Health
FACS 6350 Statistical Methods in Family and Consumer Sciences or ASTL 6382 Educational Statistics or EXSS 6316 Data Analysis

Family and Consumer Sciences Courses (15 hours)

The student selects courses from the list below. Up to three hours may be taken from another department if approved by the major advisor.

FACS 5V30 Special Topics (variable credit, 1-3 credit hours)
FACS 5310 Program Development
FACS 6301 History and Philosophy of the FACS Profession
FACS 6303 History of Fashion
FACS 6305 Problems in Consumer Textiles
FACS 6306 Clothing Trends
FACS 6309 Consumer Economics
FACS 6310 Advanced Resource Management
FACS 6311 Readings in Family Relations
FACS 6312 Readings in Child Development
FACS 6315 Readings in Adolescent Development
FACS 6320 Directed Study
FACS 6331 Readings in Parent Child Relations
FACS 6332 Readings in Adult Development and Aging
FACS 6341 Urban Development
FACS 6342 Design Methods

Thesis Research (6 hours)

FACS 6V44 Thesis Research

The procedures for selecting and writing a thesis will be those prescribed in the current UCA Thesis and Dissertation Preparation Guide, available online at https://uca.edu/graduateschool/thesisdissertation/.

[3.2] Non-Thesis Option (36 hours)

Core Requirements (9 hours)

These are the same as for thesis option.

Family and Consumer Sciences Courses (27 hours)

The student selects courses from the list in §3.1.

[4] Graduate Course Links

Follow this link to FACS course descriptions: course link.
Follow this link to EXSS course descriptions: course link.
Follow this link to ASTL course descriptions: course link.
Follow this link to HLTH course descriptions: course link.