New International Degree in Paper Science Announced

A new study abroad/exchange program will permit students from the NC State Paper Science & Engineering program to take pulp and paper courses in Europe for their junior year, finish their senior year back at NC State, and then receive two bachelor's degrees at graduation -- one from NC State and one from a European institution.

This new program, known as the Transatlantic Paper Science program (TAPS), was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, through the Fund for Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE). Two U.S. schools, NC State and the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, have partnered with two Finnish schools (Jyvaskyla University of Applied Sciences and Tampere University of Applied Sciences) and one German school (University of Munich Applied Sciences). Under the agreement, the schools will trade equal numbers of students over a three-year period, grant course equivalency for courses taken abroad, and award the visiting students a degree in paper science.

The grant includes generous scholarship support for participating students, making it very cost effective.

In addition to the considerable cultural benefits from such an exchange, NC State students will get an impressive level of depth in areas like coating, printing, and converting.

The first students from NC State will travel abroad starting in Fall 2010. Student interest on both ends is quite high! This blog will be used to provide updates on the students as they embark on this incredible adventure.