Master of Agriculture in Plant Protection: Overview

The Master of Agriculture Program in Plant Protection is designed for students who desire professional graduate training emphasizing program development and delivery of Integrated Pest Management (IPM). The intent of this program is to provide additional training and education for students interested in careers in agriculture and related businesses involving IPM. The program emphasizes the application of science and technology in an agribusiness context.

Individuals with a baccalaureate degree from a college or university of recognized standing, or qualified Texas A&M University seniors during their last semester, may apply for admission to graduate studies to pursue the non-thesis degree of Master of Agriculture in Plant Protection. The candidate’s advisory committee shall specify prerequisite work where necessary.

A minimum of 36 hours is required for the Master of Agriculture degree, Plant Protection Option. Students must complete at least 12 credit hours (resident credit) at Texas A&M University to satisfy the residence requirement.  A degree plan is to be developed with the advice and counsel of the student’s Advisory Committee and will consist of a set of required courses and elective supporting courses, typically including entomology, plant pathology, weed science, statistics and agribusiness.

Students must demonstrate problem-solving capabilities. Degree candidates may gain such capabilities by completing a professional internship that is designed to provide meaningful, applied, practical experiences, and which may vary in duration from three to nine months.

Each student will prepare a professional paper, which is a scholarly report developed from the internship experience. The professional paper must be submitted to the student’s advisory committee for approval prior to the final examination.

The professional internship can be completed at a location mutually acceptable to the students committee and internship sponsor. Students must return to the campus for a final comprehensive examination. The final oral examination is not to be administered until all other requirements for the degree, including the internship, have been completed.

No more than eight (8) hours of 684 (Professional Internship), eight (8) credit hours of 685 (Directed Studies), or a combination of the two cannot total in excess of 25% of the total credit requirements shown of the individual degree plan, may be used toward the degree.

A student may be given only one opportunity to repeat the final examination for the Master’s degree and that must be within a time period that does not extend beyond the end of the next regular semester (summer terms are excluded). No examination may be held prior to the mid-point of the semester or summer term in which a student will complete all remaining courses on the degree plan.

Master of Agriculture degree candidates do not qualify to petition for an exemption from their final examination.

Except as noted above, the requirements for the degree of Master of Agriculture in Plant Protection are identical to those for the degree of Master of Science.

For additional information regarding the Master of Agriculture degree, please refer to the Graduate Catalog available online at http://www.tamu.edu/admissions/catalogs.