The entry of Kansas State University into the Kansas City area will provide many opportunities for cooperation or competition with Kansas University, its Edwards campus in Overland Park and the KU Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan.

Cooperation would be the better course.

This issue comes to mind with the announcement this week that KU would begin to offer a master’s degree in business administration tailored specifically to professionals in the area of animal science. The goal of the program, officials say, is to help scientists understand how to translate their research and formulas into viable businesses.

This is a great goal. Building scientists’ understanding of the business world can only be a positive step toward the state’s desire to become a player in the field of biosciences.

But how does KU’s MBA program fit with KSU’s plans for a new Johnson County campus to focus on food safety and animal health. KSU has been the state’s traditional leader in the area of animal science. Does KU’s new MBA program conflict or compete with any of K-State’s plans?

It could be that the new animal science MBA is a masterful piece of cooperation between the two schools. The initial group of students in the KU program will come from a Shawnee-based company, but it seems that KU and KSU could easily put together a wonderful collaborative program by which students could study animal science at KSU and the business of animal science at KU.

That kind of cooperation would serve the students and the state well. What wouldn’t serve the state is for KU and KSU to use their dual presence in the Kansas City area to compete with each other for students or to duplicate degree programs.

KU’s chancellor and KSU’s president both have said they aren’t concerned about the two schools duplicating efforts in the Kansas City area. Staying out of each other’s way is a good first step, but it would be even better if the two schools could find ways to actively cooperate to the benefit of both their students and the state.

If they haven’t already thought of it, KU and KSU officials should consider making the new animal science MBA program a step in that direction.