Agriculture

Types of Degrees Agriculture Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many 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	1,908
Associate Degree	827
Master’s Degree	403
Undergraduate Certificate	86
Basic Certificate	18
Doctor’s Degree	10
Graduate Certificate	4

What Agriculture Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to agriculture 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 Agriculture Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in agriculture should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• 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.

Skills for Agriculture Majors

When studying agriculture, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• 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.

Abilities for Agriculture Majors

A major in agriculture will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• 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.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Agriculture Major?

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

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Agricultural Sciences Professors	7.9%	$84,640
Animal Scientists	4.9%	$58,380
Food Scientists and Technologists	5.9%	$65,300
Soil and Plant Scientists	9.0%	$63,950

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture?

This major is dominated by women with about 57% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	20
Black or African American	235
Hispanic or Latino	192
White	1,335
International Students	19
Other Races/Ethnicities	107

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Agriculture, too. About 1.0% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Agriculture

Some careers associated with agriculture require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for agriculture careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	0.3%
Bachelor’s Degree	24.8%
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.	2.0%
Master’s Degree	21.7%
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.	0.2%
Doctoral Degree	39.8%
Post-Doctoral Training	11.9%

Online Agriculture 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)	15	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	1	0
Associate’s Degree	103	6
Bachelor’s Degree	4	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	34	4
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	5	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

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 W.carter under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.