Agroecology

Types of Degrees Agroecology Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many agroecology & sustainable agriculture graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	314
Basic Certificate	134
Master’s Degree	105
Associate Degree	81
Undergraduate Certificate	36
Doctor’s Degree	22
Graduate Certificate	12

What Agroecology Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to agroecology were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Agroecology Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Skills for Agroecology Majors

A major in agroecology prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Abilities for Agroecology Majors

As a agroecology major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

What Can You Do With a Agroecology Major?

People with a agroecology degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Agricultural Sciences Professors	7.9%	$84,640
First-Line Supervisors of Agricultural Crop and Horticultural Workers	2.1%	$46,960
Forestry & Conservation Science Professors	4.5%	$86,900
Soil and Plant Scientists	9.0%	$63,950
Soil and Water Conservationists	6.3%	$61,310

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Agroecology?

Roughly 53% of the graduates are women, and 47% are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of agroecology majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	12
Black or African American	9
Hispanic or Latino	39
White	217
International Students	6
Other Races/Ethnicities	31

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Agroecology, too. About 1.9% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Agroecology

Some degrees associated with agroecology may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to agroecology have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	0.6%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	10.3%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	8.0%
Some College Courses	6.3%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	6.8%
Bachelor’s Degree	22.2%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	0.0%
Master’s Degree	6.7%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	0.1%
Doctoral Degree	27.4%
Post-Doctoral Training	12.1%

Online Agroecology Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	11	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	1	0
Associate’s Degree	32	1
Bachelor’s Degree	7	2
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	12	3
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	5	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Agroecology

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to agroecology.

Major	Number of Grads
Animal/Livestock Husbandry & Production	900
Agricultural Production Operations	710
Crop Production	506
Horse Husbandry/Equine Science & Management	480
Aquaculture	147
Dairy Husbandry & Production	66
Agricultural Production Operations	9

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By {} under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.