BS in Agricultural Education

Degree Program Description

Agricultural Education graduates are the leaders, teachers, and communicators for the agricultural industry. Our students combine their passion for agriculture and their talents working with people to lead and teach the next generation of agriculturalists. Students in Agricultural Education work with industry, government, and extension partners to develop skills through meaningful, authentic, and hands-on learning experiences. Students in Agricultural Education use the flexibility of the degree program to customize their undergraduate experience. Students may choose an emphasis in Teacher Certification or Communications and Leadership. 

Graduates of Agricultural Education are hired for a variety of careers, as employers seek our graduates for their broad-based knowledge of agriculture and their ability to develop/work with people. Popular careers include Agriculture teacher, Public Relations Specialist, Strategic Communications Specialist, Sales manager, Workforce Development trainer, commodity organization representative, governmental agriculture specialist, and Youth Specialist. Many of our graduates live in work in rural Missouri communities as the Agriculture teacher/FFA Advisor. These teachers work on a year-round contract to facilitate student success in FFA, Classroom teaching, agricultural mechanics, greenhouse, and food science laboratories, and Supervised Agricultural Experience Programs.

Agricultural Communications and Leadership graduates find careers in agricultural businesses, agricultural communications and marketing firms, commodity organizations, governmental agriculture organizations, and University of Missouri Extension. These individuals use their leadership and communication skills to lead advocacy campaigns, implement brand strategy, crisis communication, graphic design, membership services, human resources, producer programs, youth development, and many other careers.

Major Program Requirements

Students earning a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Education are required to complete all University general education, University graduation, and degree requirements, including selected foundational courses, which may fulfill some University general education requirements. 

Approximately one-third of the course work for the degree is completed in agricultural education or professionally related courses. In addition, the curriculum includes courses in agriculture, food and natural resource disciplines including agricultural economics, agricultural systems management, animal sciences, food science, horticulture, plant sciences and natural resources.

Students majoring in agricultural education select the Teacher Certification emphasis or Communications and Leadership emphasis. Please see the individual emphasis areas for degree and major requirements.

If you are planning to transfer courses (including AP credit) and would like to information on how they apply to a degree program(s), you can email CAFNRadvising@missouri.edu for general recommendations.

Foundational Courses

MATH 1100College Algebra3
BIOCHM 2110The Living World: Molecular Scale3
or BIOCHM 2112 Biotechnology in Society
or CHEM 1100 Atoms and Molecules with Lab
or CHEM 1320 College Chemistry I
BIO_SC 1010
& BIO_SC 1020		General Principles and Concepts of Biology
and General Biology Laboratory		5
or BIO_SC 1030 General Principles and Concepts of Biology with Laboratory
or BIO_SC 1200 General Botany with Laboratory
or BIO_SC 1500 Introduction to Biological Systems with Laboratory
ABM 1041Applied Microeconomics3
or ECONOM 1014 Principles of Microeconomics
AG_ED_LD 2250Introduction to Leadership3
or AG_ED_LD 2260 Team and Organizational Leadership
AGSC_COM 2220Verbal Communication in Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources3

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Semester Plan

Please refer to the Emphasis in Communications and Leadership or Teacher Certification for semester plan information.

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Degree Audit

The degree audit is an automated report reflecting a student’s academic progress toward the completion of a degree. 

MU students can request a degree audit by logging in to myDegreePlanner. Students may also access myDegreePlanner via myZou, in the Student Center, click on the Academic Progress Tile, then select Request Degree Audit. The audit automatically pulls in the student’s MU course work, transfer courses and courses in progress. This is available to current students, admitted students, and those who last attended less than three terms ago.

Past MU students can request a degree audit by contacting the Academic Advising Unit of the division in which they were last enrolled at MU. For contact information, go to https://advising.missouri.edu/contact/.

Prospective students, can access a preliminary MU degree audit via https://www.transferology.com. Information on the college credits already earned will have to be manually entered before it can be evaluated against current degree requirements.

For additional details on degree audits, go to https://registrar.missouri.edu/degrees-audits/degree-audits/.

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Major and Career Exploration

The University of Missouri has many resources to assist you in exploring majors and career possibilities. For guidance, visit the Majors and Careers website or view specific resources below.

  • If you are considering a change of major or are exploring multiple majors, schedule an appointment with an advisor in the Discovery Center by calling (573)884-9700 or through MU Connect Discovery Center service in you success network.

  • If you have decided on a major, visit an academic advisor in the School or College that you are interested in to discuss the process of declaring the major. 

  • If you would like to learn more about your career interests, abilities, values and talents, visit the MU Career Center. No Appointment is necessary to explore career options with one of our staff members.

For additional major and career exploration resources, visit Major & Career Exploration in the catalog.

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