Graduate Catalog 2024-2025

Agriculture, Master of Science (052)

Department website: http://www.wku.edu/agriculture/


Program Coordinator

Jean D. Gumirakiza, dominique.gumirakiza@wku.edu, (270) 745-5959

The Master's Degree is a general degree in agriculture and can be thesis or non-thesis depending on student goals. The degree is general by design which allows for maximum flexibility for each student. 

Joint Undergraduate Master's Program (JUMP)

This degree offers a Joint Undergraduate Master's Program (JUMP) which provides academically outstanding students the opportunity to complete both an undergraduate and graduate degree in an accelerated timeframe. Contact the graduate program coordinator for additional information.

Program Admission

In addition to Graduate Studies admissions requirements, the Department of Agriculture requires:

  1. Bachelor's degree in agriculture or related field 1
  2. GPA of 2.75 or greater (on 4.0 scale)
  3. Three letters of reference
  4. Resume or curriculum vitae
  5. Cover letter (i.e. statement of purpose) in which the applicant specifies the program to which they are applying (thesis or non-thesis), academic interests, relevant experiences, and a graduate faculty member in the WKU Department of Agriculture that has agreed to serve as the graduate advisor 2,3
1

Exceptions to an agriculture degree may be made for non-agriculture undergraduate degree holders. However, additional coursework may be required, which will be determined by the department graduate committee and/or the student's thesis committee.

2

Program and faculty information may be found at www.wku.edu/agriculture. Students should contact the agriculture graduate program coordinator for guidance in the research advisor selection process. The graduate program coordinator will review the student research interests and suggest possible research advisors.

3

Applications should be received by March 15th for priority consideration.

Graduate Studies Admission

Please refer to the admission section of this catalog for Graduate Studies admission requirements.

Program Requirements (30 hours)

Required Courses
AGRI 491GData Analysis and Interpretation3
AGRI 590Experimental Design3
AGRI 598Seminar3
Select 12 credit hours from the following:12
AGRI 528
Population Genetics
AGEC 561
Agricultural Production and Economics
AGRI 599
Thesis Research/Writing 1
AGEC 671
Advanced Agribusiness
AGRI 675
Advanced Topics/Agriculture
AGEC 675
Advanced Topics Agricultural Economics
AGRI 597
Independent Special Problems/Agriculture
ANSC 675
Advanced Topics in Animal Science
AGED 675
Advanced Topics in Agriculture Education
In consultation with your academic advisor, select 9 hours of electives from any of the following disciplines: AGEC, AGED, AGMC, AGRI, AGRO, ANSC, BA, BIOL, CHEM, ECON, EDU, HORT, or LEAD to complete a minimum of 30 graduate credit hours.9
Total Hours30
1

Thesis option students only must take 6 credit hours.