Horticultural Science

Types of Degrees Horticultural Science Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	557
Master’s Degree	138
Doctor’s Degree	59
Associate Degree	36
Undergraduate Certificate	32
Basic Certificate	26
Graduate Certificate	6

What Horticultural Science Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, horticultural science 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 Horticultural Science Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in horticultural science 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.
• 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.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• 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 Horticultural Science Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to horticultural science:

• 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.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Horticultural Science Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a horticultural science student include the following:

• 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.
• 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.
• 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 Horticultural Science Major?

People with a horticultural science degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Agricultural Sciences Professors	7.9%	$84,640
Soil and Plant Scientists	9.0%	$63,950

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Horticultural Science?

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

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	8
Black or African American	20
Hispanic or Latino	52
White	432
International Students	13
Other Races/Ethnicities	32

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Horticultural Science. About 2.3% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Horticultural Science

Some degrees associated with horticultural science 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.

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

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	0.2%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	8.2%
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)	8.8%
Some College Courses	5.2%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	6.5%
Bachelor’s Degree	24.5%
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.	0.0%
Master’s Degree	10.4%
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	25.2%
Post-Doctoral Training	10.4%

Online Horticultural Science 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)	1	0
Associate’s Degree	11	0
Bachelor’s Degree	3	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	29	2
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	16	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Horticultural Science

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

Major	Number of Grads
Agronomy & Crop Science	1,268
Plant Science, General	668
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.