HATTIESBURG — The University of Southern Mississippi is hoping to get approval for a new undergraduate degree program in polymer sciences engineering.

USM president Martha Saunders said that if the state college board signs off on the program, the university will have the only polymer sciences engineering major in the state.

Saunders said the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology would be the recognized accreditor. The proposal will go before the state college board for approval in November.

USM’s highly rated School of Polymers and High Performance Materials currently offers graduate degrees in polymer science and engineering as well as an undergraduate polymer science degree without the engineering aspect.

The School of Polymers and High Performance Materials is part of the College of Science and Technology, the second largest college in the USM system. It consists of 13 degree-granting schools and departments and enrolls about 3,000 students, USM’s website says. It is served by about 200 full-time faculty members.

In fiscal year 2010, the budget of the College of Science and Technology was more than $60 million and it received more than $46 million in grants and contracts, the website said.