ABSTRACTWe report on ‘in-situ’ solution processed homogeneous (200) oriented MgO ~85nm thin films deposited on Si substrates by inkjet printing. These films are found to show ferromagnetic order beyond room temperature with a saturation magnetization M_S as high as ~0.63 emu/g. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy investigations show the absence of any possible contamination effects, while the Mg 2p, and O 1s spectra indicate that the role of defect structure at the Mg site is important in the observed magnetism. By controlling the pH values of the precursors the concentration of the defects can be varied and hence tune the magnetization at room temperature. The origin of magnetism in these MgO thin films appears to arise from the cation vacancies.