Family and Consumer Science

What is Family and Consumer Science?

Family and Consumer Science is a discipline which deals with home, family and community management.

This discipline originated in the 19th century and was originally aimed at teaching women how to farm and take care of the house. Over time, this discipline has grown increasingly with new goals, tasks and methods and now covers the economics and management of community.

Other terms

Previously Family and Consumer Science was called Home Economics (HE), but this term was changed to Family and Consumer Science because the area regulated by this discipline is not limited only to domestic goods, but includes all material goods and culture. Sometimes Family and Consumer Science is also called Human Science, emphasizing that one of the tasks of this discipline is the development of skills and techniques associated with everyday routine work.

Why study Family and Consumer Science?

Personal goals. The main purpose of Family and Consumer Science at its dawn was to teach people how to manage the home economy and other routine matters - these skills are still the major part of the curriculum. That means graduates should receive creating-family and household skills.

Society goals. Graduates can work not only with their own families - they can help other families with their difficult situations.

Program structure

Some study programs in Family and Consumer studies also include teaching licence, so graduates can start a career in education without any additional courses.

All Family and Consumer students undertake internships or a year abroad.

During the final year students work on their own project which their present as their final dissertation, they also may have to pass the final exams. Students who have completed an undergraduate study program in Family and Consumer Science receive a Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts degree. Associate degree in Family and Consumer Science are also often available, they consist of two first years of Bachelor study program.

Entry requirements for Family and Consumer Science applicants

Universities do not usually require any specific knowledge background for Family and Consumer Science. Of course, those who wish to  apply for world’s leading universities for this discipline (or any other) need to have excellent grades (or GPA score). Applicants need to demonstrate their interest in topics of Family and Consumer Science with a motivation letter.

Since all study programs in Family and Consumer Science which can be found on our website are taught in English, language proficiency is mandatory for all applicants. Those whose native language is other from English need to pass language tests such as TOEFL or IELTS - see details in the chosen university’s requirements.