Two of Maine’s private colleges have created a partnership to offer a five-year master’s degree tied to environmentalism and business.

Bangor-based Husson College, which offers undergraduate and graduate programs, and Unity College, an undergraduate college in Unity offering two- and four-year environmental degrees, have formalized a partnership that allows Unity College students to earn their undergraduate environmental degree from Unity and master’s of science degree in business from Husson College within five years.

“This collaboration makes sense,” said Husson President William Beardsley. “It is my personal dream that our Maine forests become a place where the economy and the environment are wed. What better start than in the bringing together of Husson and Unity students.”

“The quality of the master of science in business program at Husson College is something that attracted us to it,” said Unity’s interim president, Mark Lapping. “Our graduates and the state of Maine will be well-served by this partnership. Whether working for nonprofits, starting their own business or contributing to the environmental field in other ways, adding a master’s degree from Husson College with an undergraduate environmental degree from Unity College is forward-thinking in its conception and potential.”

Unity College officials said the landscape horticulture and environmental policy majors will benefit.

The landscape horticulture program will be affected because a master’s of science in business is a useful next step for students who are thinking of starting their own businesses.

And the college’s environmental policy graduates would benefit by earning a master’s in business because Husson’s program has a nonprofit management track that a student can specialize in.

The program is available to Unity College juniors. Interested juniors will apply to Husson during the spring 2006 semester and, if accepted, begin the Unity College portion of the program in the fall.

Students from all majors at Unity are eligible to apply for admission. The partnership is the first between Unity College and a graduate school.

The partnership is designed to allow undergraduates to earn course credits that will be accepted at the graduate level, giving them a leg up on completing their graduate degree before they have even earned their bachelor’s.

Unity College offers a liberal arts education that emphasizes the environment and natural resources.