Types of Degrees Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many agricultural economics & business graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	4,891
Associate Degree	1,625
Basic Certificate	757
Undergraduate Certificate	448
Master’s Degree	344
Doctor’s Degree	72
Graduate Certificate	3

What Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, agricultural business 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 Agricultural Business Majors

Agricultural Business majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• 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.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• 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.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Skills for Agricultural Business Majors

When studying agricultural business, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• 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.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Agricultural Business Majors

Agricultural Business majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• 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.
• 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.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with agricultural business:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Economists	6.1%	$104,340
Environmental Economists	6.1%	$104,340
Farm and Home Management Advisors	7.7%	$49,840
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers	3.4%	$55,810

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in ?

This is one of the most frequently chosen business majors. It is the 14th most popular in the country with 5,097 students graduating with a bachelor’s in agricultural business in 2021. This major attracts more men than women. About 63% of the graduates in this field are male.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of agricultural business majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	123
Black or African American	144
Hispanic or Latino	443
White	3,815
International Students	126
Other Races/Ethnicities	240

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Agricultural Business. About 2.6% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• China
• South Korea
• India
• Canada
• Nepal

How Much Do Majors Make?

Bachelor’s Degree Starting Salary

Salaries According to BLS

Agricultural Business majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $50,790 to $79,940 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to

Some careers associated with agricultural business require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to agricultural business have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	3.8%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	15.8%
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)	8.3%
Some College Courses	9.1%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	8.4%
Bachelor’s Degree	27.7%
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.	0.6%
Master’s Degree	10.3%
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.	1.2%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	0.3%
Doctoral Degree	12.9%
Post-Doctoral Training	2.1%

Online 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)	95	2
Certificate (2-4 Years)	9	0
Associate’s Degree	242	13
Bachelor’s Degree	5	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	60	7
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	25	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Worth It?

The median salary for a agricultural business grad is $55,050 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 38% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $303,000 after 20 years!

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 {} under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.