Plant Sciences

Types of Degrees Plant Sciences Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many plant science, general graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	467
Master’s Degree	102
Doctor’s Degree	63
Basic Certificate	24
Associate Degree	10
Graduate Certificate	1
Undergraduate Certificate	1

What Plant Sciences Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, plant sciences 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 Plant Sciences Majors

Plant Sciences majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• 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.
• 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.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Skills for Plant Sciences Majors

plant sciences majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• 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.
• Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
• 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.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities for Plant Sciences Majors

As a plant sciences 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 Plant Sciences Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with plant sciences:

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
Soil and Plant Scientists	9.0%	$63,950

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Plant Sciences?

Roughly 46% of the graduates are women, and 54% are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	9
Black or African American	10
Hispanic or Latino	39
White	368
International Students	11
Other Races/Ethnicities	30

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Plant Sciences. About 2.4% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Plant Sciences

Some degrees associated with plant sciences may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. 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 plant sciences have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	0.8%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	15.1%
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)	11.0%
Some College Courses	8.5%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	7.6%
Bachelor’s Degree	21.7%
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	8.0%
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	19.2%
Post-Doctoral Training	7.9%

Online Plant Sciences 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)	3	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	6	0
Bachelor’s Degree	2	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	21	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	19	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Plant Sciences

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

Major	Number of Grads
Agronomy & Crop Science	1,268
Horticultural Science	854
Range Science & Management	196
Plant Protection & Integrated Pest Management	159
Plant Sciences, Other	118
Agricultural & Horticultural Plant Breeding	44

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 Lufa Farms under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.