Master of Agriculture (M.Ag.)
Our Program
The Master of Agriculture (M.Ag.) degree is designed to provide the student with specific application skills. A major emphasis is placed on the use of current decision-aid tools used to solve problems routinely faced by decision makers. The Master of Agriculture degree in the Department of Agricultural Economics is a non-research degree. It does not prepare the student for advanced study at the Ph.D. level.
Find important information for the agricultural economics graduate program below:
Basic Information
Students who are accepted for study in the Master of Agriculture program will be assigned an advisor. A three member committee, which includes the student's advisor, will assist the student in developing a plan of study which includes a minimum of 36 semester credit hours. The minimum requirement must include 6 hours of credit earned for a professional internship, and a minimum of 21 credit hours must be earned at the 5000 level or above. A written comprehensive exam is required of all Master of Agriculture degree candidates.
- Degree Requirements
- Admission to the program.
- Successfully completing the courses included on an approved plan of study.
- Successfully completing either a creative component or an internship that fulfills the creative component requirement, approved by the student’s Academic Advisory Committee.
- Successfully completing a comprehensive final examination administered by the students’ advisory committee.
- A graduation clearance form should be submitted online in the semester the student intends to complete degree requirements. See graduate college academic calendar.
- A diploma application should be submitted online in the semester the student intends to complete degree requirements. See graduate college academic calendar.
- M.Ag. in Agribusiness: Program Description
The Master of Agriculture in Agribusiness degree (M.Ag.) is intended for students with a B.S. degree in a field other than agricultural economics such as animal science, agricultural communications, horticulture, or plant science. The program of study is more flexible than a typical MBA program and is directly related to agriculture. The Master of Agriculture degree is a non-research degree and does not prepare students for advanced study at the Ph.D. level. Students with a B.S. in agricultural economics or a related field or students who plan to pursue a Ph.D. should enroll under the Master of Science option.
Two specializations are available within the degree:
The Agribusiness Option provides the economics and business training needed to enter a management position in agricultural or related industries. These include agricultural cooperatives, commodity merchandisers, banks, and farm consultants. The Agricultural Economics Option permits students to tailor the degree to specialties in natural resources, animal science, agricultural communications, horticulture, plant science or others.
- M.Ag. in Agribusiness: Degree Requirements
Two alternatives exist for satisfying the Master of Agriculture requirements:
- 32 credit hours, and two credit hours of AGEC 5000 for a creative component
- 36 credit hours including six hours of AGEC 5010 for a professional internship. A minimum of 21 credit hours must be earned at the 5000 level or above. A comprehensive final examination is required of all Master of Agriculture candidates
The prerequisites include one course in statistics, a working knowledge of computers, and nine additional semester credit hours in agricultural economics and economics.
Agribusiness Option
- AGEC 5423 Advanced Agribusiness Management
or - AGEC 5043 Advanced Farm and Ranch Management
- AGEC 5603 Advanced Agricultural Finance
- MGMT 5113 Management and Organization Theory or EEE 5223 Entrepreneurial Marketing
- STAT 5543 Applied Regression Analysis or REMS 5933
- ECON 5113 Managerial Economics
or - AGEC 5103 Mathematical Economics
or - AGEC 5013 Advanced Quantitative Methods in AGEC – may not be used for degree credit with AGEC 4213
Minimum 12 hours in Agricultural Economics not including AGEC 5000 or 5010
*Students who have had calculus should take AGEC 5103 Mathematical Economics instead of ECON 5113. Students with no upper division training in microeconomics should take ECON 3113 Intermediate Microeconomics before taking ECON 5113.
Other recommendations: Students with no background in accounting should take ACCT 5183 MBA Financial Reporting. Students with strong skills in mathematics and statistics should take STAT 5543 in the fall instead of STAT 5013 and then take AGEC 5213 Econometric Methods in the spring. The comprehensive final examination may be administered after the student has completed one year in the program.
- Agricultural Economics Option
Minimum 15 hours in Agricultural Economics not including AGEC 5000 or 5010.
At least 9 hours outside of Agricultural Economics including 3 hours of Statistics.
An example plan of study for the Master of Agriculture degree with an option in Agribusiness under the internship alternative is:
Fall:
- AGEC 5423 Advanced Agribusiness Management
- STAT 5013 Statistics for Experimenters I or
- STAT 5543 Applied Regression Analysis
- AGEC 5033 Commodity Futures Markets
- ECON 5113* Managerial Economics* or
- AGEC 5103 Mathematical Economics (Pre requ.)
Spring:
- AGEC 5023 Quantitative Supply Chain Management in Agribusiness or
- AGEC 5043 Advanced Farm and Ranch Management or
- AGEC 5513 Farm Appraisal
- AGEC 5603 Advanced Agricultural Finance
- MGMT 5113 Management and Organization Theory
Summer:
- AGEC 5000 Creative Component (2 credit hours)
- AGEC 5010 Professional Experience in Agricultural Economics (six credit hours)
Fall:
- MKTG 5133 Marketing Management
- AGEC 5303 Agricultural Market and Policy Organization
- AGEC 5343 International Agriculture Markets and Trade
- EEE 5333 Launching a Business: First 100 Days
The comprehensive final examination may be administered after the student has completed one year in the program.
- Professional Internship
Students who elect to pursue an internship are responsible for finding the internship. Students enroll in AGEC 5010. Enrollment will require permission of the instructor (Dr. Holcomb) as well as the student’s committee. Students turn in monthly progress reports, a final report, and an evaluation form. Their supervisor also turns in an evaluation form.
Internships are variable hours courses. OSU’s way of handling that is to auto-enroll you for 1 credit hour when you add that class. However, once you are enrolled, click on “Schedule and Options” and change the “1” to a “6” and save. You should see the number of enrolled credit hours change accordingly.
Students who elect to pursue a creative component are responsible for identifying a topic under the guidance of an advisor. Examples of creative components include writing a report, developing software, completing a case study, developing a marketing plan, creating fact sheets, implementing workshops, or other topics. The advisor must approve the topic. Students choosing this option must enroll in AGEC 5000.