Degree Verification

A bachelor’s degree from an accredited U.S. college or university or a similarly recognized international university is required for admission to and completion of a graduate program.

Overall Graduate GPA at least 3.0 and no grades of C- or lower; Graduate students are required to maintain at least a 3.0 GPA for degree-program courses. Grades of C- or lower will not be accepted for a graduate degree.

Course Number Acceptability

The Program of Study for a master’s degree must include at least 15 semester credits of 6000 level or above.

Courses numbered 5000-5990 are advanced, upper-division courses and a maximum of 12 credits may be used on an approved program of study.

Credits in the following areas are not acceptable in a degree program: foreign languages, continuing graduate advisement, individual home study, military science, and courses numbered below 5000.

Matriculation Start Semester
A master’s degree must be completed within six years of entering the degree program. Additional time may be requested by the student’s committee and submitted to the Vice Provost of Graduate Studies for review.

Coursework Validity
Coursework over eight years old at the time of degree completion may not be used for a graduate degree unless it is revalidated by the Vice Provost of Graduate Studies.

Minimum Total Credits
The minimum requirement for a master’s degree is 30 semester credits.

Course requirements leading to MS degrees are developed jointly by the student and the student’s supervisory committee. Each student must have a Program of Study approved by their supervisory committee.

The following are required:

15 credits minimum of committee-approved 6000-7000 level courses related to selected research area
- including 2 credits of Plants, Soils and Climate Graduate seminar (course)
- 2-15 credits of Thesis Research credits (course) depending on plan type
  - Plan A - minimum of 6 credits, maximum of 15 credits
  - Plan B - minimum of 2 credits, maximum of 3 credits

(5000 level courses are considered upper-division and maximum of 12 credits may be used in a graduate program if approved by the supervisory committee)

Program of study course selections reflect research areas in crop physiology; crop production and management; molecular biology; plant breeding and cytology; plant biotechnology and tissue culture; plant nutrition; space biology; weed science; and bioinformatics and computational biology. There are additional specific departmental requirements regarding physical sciences, biological sciences, and mathematics courses, which differ depending on the program and area of research.

Information for the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Specialization is listed at the bottom of this page.

All MS students write a Plan A thesis or create a Plan B project under the guidance of their advisor and supervisory committee. The master’s thesis must be successfully defended before the supervisory committee and submitted to the library.

Master’s Plan A students:

The Plan A option requires the preparation and defense of a thesis. Students are required to complete a minimum of 6 semester credits of thesis research (course) that will be applied toward a Program of Study.

Master’s Plan B students:

A Plan B option requires the production and defense of a paper or project. Students are required to complete a minimum of 2 credits of thesis research (course) with a maximum of 3 thesis research credits applied toward a Program of Study.

Professional/Plan C students cannot use any thesis/dissertation credits.

Approval of academic forms required by the School of Graduate Studies:

Supervisory Committee approval form
Program of Study form
Thesis/Project Approval
Appointment for Examination
Record of Examination
SGS and library review and approval (Plan A)
Library review and approval (Plan B)

Plant Science - MS

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Program Overview

Program Requirements

Program Learning Outcomes

Program Learning Outcomes