Graduate Program
 Agriculture
 

Requirements for Admission
  Applicants must meet all Murray State University requirements (see Chapter 2). The status (conditional/unconditional) of an applicant must be determined before the student enrolls in their first class. Additional requirements for unconditional and conditional admission are as follows.

Unconditional
  For unconditional admission, students must meet both of the following requirements:
•An overall grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 in the last 60 hours of undergraduate work; and
•The equivalent of an undergraduate area or major in agriculture is required.

Conditional
  Students may be conditionally admitted according to the following requirements:
•An undergraduate GPA of at least 2.5 or a GPA of 3.0 in the last 60 hours of undergraduate work; and
•In some cases, students without the undergraduate area or major may be admitted on the condition that they have significant agricultural work experience and/or complete prerequisites consisting of at least the undergraduate agriculture core courses in their respective field. The plan of study must be approved by the advisor and academic coordinator and may allow taking of a combination of undergraduate/graduate courses concurrently.

  Upon completion of nine hours of graduate work a student admitted conditionally must have a 3.0 GPA or the student will be dropped from the program. A graduate student dropped for academic reasons may reapply after withdrawal from the graduate program for one semester. Readmission decisions will be made according to the recommendation of an appointed graduate admissions committee.

Total Course Requirements 32 hours

AGR 620 Agricultural Experimental Design and Analysis
AGR 621 Graduate Seminar I¹
AGR 622 Graduate Seminar II²
AGR 635 Research Methodology
AGR 698 Thesis
AGR 699 Thesis
Select nine hours from the following:
AGR 539 Advanced Computer Applications for Agriculture
AGR 566 Advanced Greenhouse Management and Production
AGR 573 Agricultural Processing
AGR 601 Forage Management
AGR 639 Agribusiness Management
AGR 645 Biotechnology and Agriculture

Specialty 9 hrs
500- or 600-level, approved by faculty advisor.
  The specialty area courses may be chosen, in consultation with an advisor, from courses that most effectively achieve the student's educational goals.

Other Degree Requirements
Comprehensive written examination over coursework.

¹Class should be taken during first semester of enrollment. Each student will be expected to prepare, coordinate and/or present one seminar based on a current topic in agriculture.
²Class should be taken during the last semester of enrollment. Each student will be expected to prepare and present one seminar based on their thesis project.

Professional Option

Total Course Requirements 32 hours
AGR 600 Research in Agriculture¹
AGR 620 Agricultural Experimental Design and Analysis
AGR 621 Graduate Seminar I²
AGR 622 Graduate Seminar II³
AGR 635 Research Methodology
Select nine hours from the following:
AGR 539 Advanced Computer Applications for Agriculture
AGR 566 Advanced Greenhouse Management and Production
AGR 573 Agricultural Processing
AGR 601 Forage Management
AGR 639 Agribusiness Management
AGR 645 Biotechnology and Agriculture

Specialty 12 hrs
500- or 600-level, approved by faculty advisor.
  The specialty area courses may be chosen, in consultation with an advisor, from courses that most effectively achieve the student's educational goals.

Other Degree Requirements
Comprehensive written examination over coursework.

¹Course must include a creative component or significant research report.
²Class should be taken during first semester of enrollment. Each student will be expected to prepare, coordinate and/or present one seminar based on a current topic in agriculture.
³Class should be taken during the last semester of enrollment. Each student will be expected to prepare and present one seminar based on their creative component, research report or work experience.