Master of Science

A Master of Science (Latin: Magister Scientiæ; abbreviated MSc or MS) is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in a large number of countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences and occasionally in the social sciences.

United Kingdom
The MSc is typically a "taught" postgraduate degree, involving lectures, examination, and a short project. Taught masters programmes involve 1 or 2 years of full-time study.

Until recently, both the undergraduate and postgraduate masters degrees were awarded without grade or class (like the class of an honours degree). Nowadays however, masters degrees are normally classified into the categories of Pass and Distinction, with some universities also using an intermediate Merit category.

This education pattern in United Kingdom is followed in India and many Commonwealth Nations.

United States
The Master of Arts (Magister Artium) and Master of Science (Magister Scientiæ) degrees are the basic type of in most subjects and may be entirely course-based, entirely research-based or (more typically) a mixture.

Admission to a master's program is normally contingent upon holding a bachelor's degree, and progressing to a doctoral program usually requires a master's degree. In some fields or graduate programs, work on a doctorate begins immediately after the bachelors degree. Some programs provide for a joint bachelor's and master's degree after about five years. Some universities use the Latin degree names, and due to the flexibility of word order in Latin, Artium Magister (AM) or Scientiæ Magister (SM) may be used at some schools.