Chair: V. Salin

Graduate Advisor: V. Salin

This professional curriculum is designed to provide specialized preparation for economic, financial, marketing, and managerial analysis of agribusiness, food and fiber industry decisions. The Master of Agribusiness (MAB) degree program is non-thesis, interdisciplinary, and jointly administered by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Mays Business School. Program administration includes a Program Director, Program Executive Committee and an Intercollegiate Faculty. This program is one of a select cadre of national programs that successfully cuts across the business and agriculture disciplines to focus on food and agribusiness management.

The requirements of the Master of Agribusiness degree are completed with a full-time, residential program of study.  Course selections are flexible to meet the needs and goals of students who have prior education and experience in life sciences fields or in business and economics. Enrollees who have taken business courses as undergraduates will be able to build on what they learned in these foundation courses and specialize their training to pursue specific career goals. Those who have not completed these foundation courses may complete them as part of their degree program. A student will work closely with the Program Director in developing a degree plan to meet his/her unique background and career goals. 

The Intercollegiate Faculty of Agribusiness provides administrative leadership for the Master of Agribusiness (MAB) degree program. The mission of the Intercollegiate Faculty of Agribusiness is to:

1. foster the synergistic development of interdisciplinary agribusiness research and teaching;
2. enhance communication between the faculty members in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (Department of Agricultural Economics) and the Mays Business School (Departments of Accounting, Finance, Information and Operations Management, Management, and Marketing);
3. build a strong academic foundation in agribusiness and managerial economics that will meet the current and future needs of industry, governments, and higher education in the United States and globally; and
4. capitalize on the network of leaders within the food and agribusiness industry for student recruitment, research opportunities, internships and placement.

Furthering the development of value-added agricultural and food enterprises in Texas, the United States, and worldwide will require considerable analytical and managerial expertise. Graduate-trained managers are needed who are comfortable working in technical fields of expertise and who also have an understanding of the unique challenges and issues facing the agricultural and food sector. The Master of Agribusiness program provides this training.

Information regarding the program and application process may be obtained from the Master of Agribusiness website or by contacting the Intercollegiate Faculty Chair (MAB@agecon.tamu.edu).

Program Requirements

• Student’s Advisory Committee
• Degree Plan
• Credit Requirement
• Transfer of Credit
• Limitations on the Use of Transfer, Extension and Certain Other Courses
• Final Examination

Student’s Advisory Committee

After receiving admission to graduate studies and enrolling for coursework, the student will consult with the Chair of the Intercollegiate Faculty of Agribusiness concerning program structure and requirements. The Chair of the Intercollegiate Faculty of Agribusiness has the responsibility of approving the proposed degree plan for a MAB student and is responsible for counseling the student on academic matters, and, in the case of academic deficiency, initiating recommendations to the Graduate and Professional School. No other advisory committee members are required.

Degree Plan

The degree plan must be completed and filed with the Graduate and Professional School by the student’s second semester, and no later than dates announced in the GPS calendar of deadlines for graduation.

This proposed degree plan should be submitted using the online Document Processing Submission System located on the website https://ogsdpss.tamu.edu.

Additional coursework may be added to the approved degree plan by petition if it is deemed necessary to correct deficiencies in the student’s academic preparation.

No changes can be made to the degree plan once the student’s Request for Final Examination or Request for Final Examination Exemption is approved by the Graduate and Professional School.

Credit Requirement

The minimum requirements for this degree are the completion of 39 credit hours of coursework. To emphasize the integration and application of subject matter learned and the development of written and oral communication skills, a student will be required to take capstone courses consisting of AGEC 629 and AGEC 630 during the last fall semester. This 6 credit hour course requirement replaces the Final Examination.

A student may select 6 credit hours of electives within the 39 credit hour requirement in consultation with his/her advisor. These elective hours may include AGEC 684. At least one elective course is to be from the Mays Business School, preferably in the international area.

Transfer of Credit

A student who has earned 12 hours of graduate credit in residence at Texas A&M University may be authorized to transfer courses in excess of the limits prescribed above upon the advice of the advisory committee and with the approval of the Graduate and Professional School. Courses taken in residence at an accredited U.S. institution or approved international institution with a final grade of B or greater might be considered for transfer credit if, at the time the courses were completed, the courses would be accepted for credit toward a similar degree for a student in degree-seeking status at the host institution. Otherwise, the limitations stated in the preceding section apply. Coursework in which no formal grades are given or in which grades other than letter grades (A or B) are earned (for example, CR, P, S, U, H, etc.) is not accepted for transfer credit. Courses appearing on the degree plan with grades of D, F or U may not be absolved by transfer work. Credit for thesis research or the equivalent is not transferable. Credit for coursework submitted for transfer from any college or university must be shown in semester credit hours or equated to semester credit hours. An official transcript from the university at which the transfer coursework was taken must be sent directly to the Office of Admissions.

Courses used toward a degree at another institution may not be applied for graduate credit. If the course to be transferred was taken prior to the conferral of a degree at the transfer institution, a letter from the Registrar at that institution stating that the course was not applied for credit toward the degree must be submitted to the Graduate and Professional School.

Grades for courses completed at other institutions are not included in computing the GPA.

Limitations on the Use of Transfer, Extension and Certain Other Courses

Some departments may have more restrictive requirements for transfer work. If otherwise acceptable, certain courses may be used toward meeting credit-hour requirements for the master’s degree under the following limitations.

1. The maximum number of credit hours which may be considered for transfer credit is the greater of 12 hours or one-third (1/3) of the total hours of a degree plan. The following restrictions apply:
   • Graduate and/or upper-level undergraduate courses, taken in residence at an accredited U.S. institution, or approved international institution with a final grade of B or greater, will be considered for transfer credit if, at the time the courses were completed, the student was in degree-seeking status at Texas A&M University, or the student was in degree-seeking status at the institution at which the courses were taken; and if the courses would be accepted for credit toward a similar degree for a student in degree-seeking status at the host institution.
   • Courses previously used for another degree are not acceptable for degree plan credit.
2. The maximum number of credit hours taken in post-baccalaureate non-degree (G6) classification at Texas A&M University which may be considered for application to the degree plan is 12.
3. A zero credit 684 or 685 course is only allowed for non-thesis option master's students. A zero credit 681 course can be used for either thesis or non-thesis option master’s students. Other courses, including 691 (Research) hours, are not eligible for zero credit.
4. Any combination of 684, 685, 690 and 695 may not exceed 25 percent of the total credit hour requirement shown on the individual degree plan:
   • A maximum of 4 hours of 684 (Professional Internship) and/or
   • 8 hours of 685 (Directed Studies), and
   • Up to 3 hours of 690 (Theory of Research), and
   • Up to 3 hours of 695 (Frontiers in Research).
5. A maximum of 2 hours of 681 (Seminar).
6. A maximum of 9 hours of advanced undergraduate courses (300- or 400-level).
7. For graduate courses of three weeks’ duration or less, taken at other institutions, up to 1 hour of credit may be obtained for each five-day week of coursework. Each week of coursework must include at least 15 contact hours.
8. No credit hours of 691 (Research) may be used.
9. Continuing education courses may not be used for graduate credit.
10. Extension courses are not acceptable for credit.

11. For non-distance degree programs, no more than 50 percent of the non-research coursework required for the program may be completed through distance education courses.

12. To receive a graduate degree from Texas A&M University, students must earn one-third or more of the credits through the institution’s own direct instruction. This limitation also applies to joint degree programs.  

Exceptions will be permitted only in unusual cases and when petitioned by the student with permission from the Intercollegiate Chair and Associate Department Head for Graduate Programs and approved by the Graduate and Professional School.

Final Examination

To emphasize the integration and application of subject matter learned and the development of written and oral communication skills, a student will be required to take capstone courses consisting of AGEC 629 and AGEC 630 during the last fall semester. This 6 credit hour course requirement allows waiving of the Final Examination. Completion of these capstone courses serves as the final examination for this program.

Additional Requirements

• Residence
• Time Limit
• Foreign Languages
• Application for Degree

Residence

In partial fulfillment of the residence requirement for the degree of Master of Agribusiness, the student must complete 9 resident credit hours during one regular semester or one 10-week summer semester in resident study at Texas A&M University. A minimum of 1 credit hour must be in a non-distance education delivery mode. Semesters during which the student is enrolled in all distance education coursework will not count toward fulfillment of the residence requirement. Upon recommendation of the student’s advisory committee, department head or Chair of the Interdisciplinary Program, if appropriate, and with approval of the Graduate and Professional School, a student may be granted exemption from this requirement. Such a petition, however, must be approved prior to the student’s registration for the final 9 credit hours of required coursework.

Students who are employed full-time while completing their degree may fulfill total residence requirements by completion of less-than-full time course loads each semester. In order to be considered for this, the student is required to submit a Petition for Waivers and Exceptions along with verification of his/her employment to the Graduate and Professional School.

See Residence Requirements.

Time Limit

All degree requirements must be completed within a period of seven consecutive years for the degree to be granted. A course will be considered valid until seven years after the end of the semester in which it is taken. Graduate credit for coursework which is more than seven calendar years old may not be used to satisfy degree requirements.

Foreign Languages

No specific language requirement exists for the Master of Agribusiness degree.

Application for Degree

For information on applying for your degree, please visit the Graduation section.