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Major · Agricultural, Animal, Plant & Veterinary Sciences

The generalist track in a family of specialists

Agriculture, General is the broad foundation of the CIP 01 family — basic animal, plant, and soil science plus husbandry, cultivation, conservation, and farm business. It is the largest single program in the concentration, with roughly 2,733 degrees awarded each year across 179 colleges and a five-year earnings median of $53,119 that sits just above agricultural technician wages and just below the bachelor's-level soil and plant scientist role.

Schools offering
179
Annual completions
2,733
Typical degree level
Associate's + Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$53k

About this major

Agriculture, General is the foundational program in the CIP 01 family — a deliberately broad curriculum that spans basic animal, plant, and soil science alongside husbandry, cultivation, soil conservation, and farm business. The CIP definition is wide by design, and coursework reflects it: students typically rotate through introductory biology, chemistry, and animal science, then move into applied work in crop production, livestock management, soil science, and agricultural economics. Breadth is the selling point. This is the program for students who expect to manage mixed operations, haven't narrowed to a single commodity, or want flexibility across the agricultural labor market.

Scale supports the generalist framing. Roughly 2,733 degrees are awarded each year across 179 colleges, making this the most widely offered program in the agricultural sciences concentration by a significant margin. Specialized siblings go deeper in one domain — Animal Sciences, General awards 6,799 degrees a year, Food Science 941, Agronomy and Crop Science 730, Horticultural Science 624, Plant Sciences, General 483 — but none matches this program's combination of broad coverage and program availability. The concentration also cross-references Agricultural Engineering (CIP 14.0301), which lives in the Engineering family and covers the machinery and systems-design side.

Both associate's and bachelor's credentials are realistic endpoints, and the earnings data separates them cleanly. Associate's completers report a five-year median of $48,339, tracking toward agricultural technician roles ($46,790 median wage, 4.3% projected growth). Bachelor's completers report $53,989, which sits between the technician wage and the three bachelor's-entry scientist roles in the career data: soil and plant scientists at $71,410 (5.4% growth), animal scientists at $79,120 (5.8% growth), and food scientists and technologists at $85,310 (6.5% growth). The postsecondary teacher path at $86,350 is the outlier — it requires a doctoral degree and should be read as a graduate-school-plus-doctorate trajectory rather than a bachelor's destination.

The top-ten programs cluster heavily around Texas and land-grant universities. Blinn College District leads total completions at 134 associate's degrees; Illinois State University awards the most bachelor's degrees at 99, followed by Tarleton State University (89), Stephen F Austin State University (81), Oregon State University (79), Prairie View A&M University (75), South Dakota State University (75 total), Western Illinois University (62), Utah State University (59 associate's), and Cornell University (56). Four of the top ten are Texas schools, which matters for students comparing regional employer access and extension-service pipelines.

Section 3 · Careers

Where this major leads

Occupations most often associated with this major, from the federal BLS+O*NET crosswalk. Job-growth projections and median wages are national.

Occupation Median wage Job growth Typical education
Soil and plant scientists $71k +5.4% Bachelor's degree
Agricultural technicians $47k +4.3% Associate's degree
Food scientists and technologists $85k +6.5% Bachelor's degree
Agricultural sciences teachers, postsecondary $86k +4.1% Doctoral or professional degree
Animal scientists $79k +5.8% Bachelor's degree
Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

Median graduate earnings from the federal College Scorecard, 5 and 10 years out.

Median 5-year earnings

$53k

Associate's vs Bachelor's — early-career earnings

Associate's

$48k

Bachelor's

$54k

Who this major is for

Students who expect to work across plant, animal, and business sides of agriculture — farm managers, extension agents, agricultural sales representatives, operations staff at mixed ranches or commodity cooperatives — are the most direct fit. The curriculum's breadth is a feature when the target role blends domains rather than specializing in one. This also fits students who haven't yet chosen between crops, livestock, and ag business, and who want a foundational degree that leaves sibling specializations (Animal Sciences, Food Science, Agronomy, Horticultural Science) open as a graduate focus later. Students targeting a bachelor's-level scientist role — soil and plant scientists at $71,410, animal scientists at $79,120, food scientists and technologists at $85,310 — will find the broad foundation works, though a specialized sibling program often signals stronger domain commitment to employers in those specific tracks.

Reconsider this major if your interests have already narrowed to one commodity or one problem area. Students committed to livestock genetics are better served by Animal Sciences, General; students focused on crop science or soil fertility should look at Agronomy and Crop Science or Plant Sciences; students drawn to industrial food processing belong in Food Science; students interested in the machinery and precision-agriculture side should pursue Agricultural Engineering through the Engineering concentration instead. Also weigh the earnings picture honestly. The five-year median of $53,119 sits just above the agricultural technician wage and meaningfully below the bachelor's-entry scientist roles, reflecting an early-career cohort distributed across both rungs. If the plan is to top out at a technician role, the associate's version of the major delivers most of the economic value at roughly half the time and tuition cost. If the plan is an academic career, budget for the doctoral commitment the postsecondary teacher role requires.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Agriculture, General

Ranked by annual completions at the associate's or bachelor's level — a proxy for program scale.

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
Blinn College District Brenham, TX 134 0 134
Illinois State University Normal, IL 0 99 99
Tarleton State University Stephenville, TX 0 89 89
Stephen F Austin State University Nacogdoches, TX 0 81 81
Oregon State University Corvallis, OR 0 79 79
Prairie View A & M University Prairie View, TX 0 75 75
South Dakota State University Brookings, SD 34 41 75
Western Illinois University Macomb, IL 0 62 62
Utah State University Logan, UT 59 0 59
Cornell University Ithaca, NY 0 56 56
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Animal Sciences, General

6,799 completions/yr

Food Science

941 completions/yr

Agronomy and Crop Science

730 completions/yr

Horticultural Science

624 completions/yr

Plant Sciences, General

483 completions/yr

Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture

418 completions/yr

Animal Sciences, Other

233 completions/yr

Viticulture and Enology

188 completions/yr
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

Why pick a general agriculture major over a specialized one like Agronomy or Animal Sciences?
Agriculture, General is the broadest program in the CIP 01 family, covering basic animal, plant, and soil science plus farm business and conservation in one curriculum. That breadth is the point — it fits students who expect to manage a mixed operation, who haven't yet narrowed to crops vs. livestock, or who want flexibility across the bachelor's-level destinations (soil and plant scientists at $71,410, animal scientists at $79,120, food scientists at $85,310). Specialized siblings go deeper: Animal Sciences, General awards 6,799 degrees a year, Food Science 941, Agronomy and Crop Science 730, Horticultural Science 624. Pick the generalist track when breadth matters more than depth, or when the target career blends multiple ag domains (farm management, extension work, agricultural sales).
Does the associate's version of this major lead somewhere different from the bachelor's?
Yes, and the data shows both paths are real. Associate's completers report a five-year median of $48,339 while bachelor's completers report $53,989 — a roughly $5,650 annual gap. The associate's route tracks toward agricultural technician roles ($46,790 median, 4.3% projected growth) and into farm, ranch, and operations work; Blinn College District in Texas alone awards 134 associate's degrees a year, the most of any school in this program. The bachelor's route is what unlocks the scientist-level careers — soil and plant scientists ($71,410), animal scientists ($79,120), food scientists and technologists ($85,310) — all of which list a bachelor's as the typical entry credential. Neither path is inferior; they sort students toward different rungs of the ag labor market.
Where do the largest programs sit, and does Texas really dominate?
Texas does carry unusual weight. Four of the top ten programs are in-state: Blinn College District (134 associate's completions), Tarleton State University (89 bachelor's), Stephen F Austin State University (81 bachelor's), and Prairie View A&M University (75 bachelor's). Illinois State University (99 bachelor's), Oregon State University (79), South Dakota State University (75, split associate's and bachelor's), Western Illinois University (62), Utah State University (59 associate's), and Cornell University (56 bachelor's) round out the top ten. The footprint overlaps heavily with land-grant institutions and states where agriculture is a major industry — a useful signal for internship access, extension-service pipelines, and regional employer networks.
Is the postsecondary teacher role a realistic destination for bachelor's completers?
Not directly. Agricultural sciences teachers, postsecondary is listed as a career path at an $86,350 median — the highest on the careers list — but the typical education is doctoral or professional. Treat that listing as a long-horizon academic path that requires graduate and doctoral work after the bachelor's, not an entry-level ceiling. The realistic bachelor's-level ceiling in the career data is food scientist and technologist at $85,310, followed by animal scientists at $79,120 and soil and plant scientists at $71,410 — all bachelor's-entry roles and all above the five-year median for this major, consistent with an early-career mix of higher-earning specialists and lower-earning technicians.
How does Agriculture, General connect to cross-referenced programs like Agricultural Engineering?
The data packet cross-references Agricultural Engineering (CIP 14.0301), which is a genuinely different program housed in the Engineering concentration rather than Agricultural Sciences. Agricultural Engineering is the machinery, systems, and structures side — tractors, irrigation, precision ag, food processing equipment design — and it leads to engineering-credentialed roles rather than scientist or manager roles. Agriculture, General stays on the biological and business side: soil chemistry, plant and animal husbandry, farm operations, and conservation. Students drawn to the mechanical or systems-design side of agriculture will find Agricultural Engineering the better fit; students drawn to working with the living systems themselves should stay with Agriculture, General or a more specialized sibling.