Turf and Turfgrass Management

Types of Degrees Turf and Turfgrass Management Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many turf & turfgrass management graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Associate Degree	192
Bachelor’s Degree	91
Basic Certificate	65
Undergraduate Certificate	47
Master’s Degree	6

What Turf and Turfgrass Management Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, turf and turfgrass management majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Turf and Turfgrass Management Majors

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

• 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.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• 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.

Skills for Turf and Turfgrass Management Majors

When studying turf and turfgrass management, 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:

• 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.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions.

Abilities for Turf and Turfgrass Management Majors

A major in turf and turfgrass management 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.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• 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.

What Can You Do With a Turf and Turfgrass Management Major?

People with a turf and turfgrass management 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 Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers	11.4%	$48,220
Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation	7.9%	$35,320

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Turf and Turfgrass Management?

This major tends to be male dominated. About 97% of recent graduates are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of turf and turfgrass management majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	0
Black or African American	0
Hispanic or Latino	4
White	82
International Students	1
Other Races/Ethnicities	4

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Turf and Turfgrass Management. About 1.1% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Turf and Turfgrass Management

Some careers associated with turf and turfgrass management 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.

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

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	5.9%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	22.8%
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)	12.9%
Some College Courses	1.0%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	9.2%
Bachelor’s Degree	8.5%
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.	4.7%
Master’s Degree	4.7%
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.	0.3%
Doctoral Degree	18.5%
Post-Doctoral Training	9.0%

Online Turf and Turfgrass Management 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)	21	1
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	32	2
Bachelor’s Degree	0	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	1	1
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Turf and Turfgrass Management

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to turf and turfgrass management.

Major	Number of Grads
Applied Horticulture/Horticulture Operations	2,034
L&scaping & Groundskeeping	916
Plant Nursery Operations & Management	130
Ornamental Horticulture	127
Applied Horticulture/Horticultural Business Services, Other	109
Greenhouse Operations & Management	108
Floriculture/Floristry Operations & Management	103
Urban and Community Horticulture	4
Public Horticulture	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 {} under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.