undergradly.
Major · Agricultural, Animal, Plant & Veterinary Sciences

The science of growing things you can see, smell, and eat

Horticultural Science is the plant-cultivation branch of the agricultural sciences — the discipline behind fruits, vegetables, ornamentals, and nursery crops, studied at the scientific rather than the operational level. Around 624 degrees are awarded each year across 49 colleges, and completers report a five-year earnings median of $56,232. Unusually for this family, associate's completers ($61,971) out-earn bachelor's completers ($55,977) — a signal worth reading carefully.

Schools offering
49
Annual completions
624
Typical degree level
Associate's + Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$56k

About this major

Horticultural Science is the scientific study of cultivated plants — fruits, vegetables, flowers, nursery stock, and ornamentals — spanning breeding, physiology, plant pathology, and the management of plant development across the life cycle. The CIP definition stays firmly in the scientific register: coursework moves from general plant biology and soil science into specialized topics like pomology (fruit science), olericulture (vegetable science), floriculture, and nursery production, with upper-division work in plant breeding, postharvest physiology, and integrated pest management. Students typically spend substantial time in teaching greenhouses, research plots, and controlled-environment facilities — infrastructure that exists at scale almost exclusively at land-grant universities.

Program scale is moderate and tightly clustered. About 624 degrees are awarded each year across 49 colleges, with the top ten heavily dominated by land-grant institutions: Colorado State University-Fort Collins (52), Iowa State (43), Oregon State (42), North Carolina State (38), Missouri State (34), Kansas State (30), SUNY Morrisville (30), Virginia Tech (28), Michigan State (27), and the University of Georgia (26). The geographic footprint tracks the agricultural economy's commodity regions — Great Plains wheat-and-beef country, Pacific Northwest specialty crops, Southeast ornamentals and tobacco. That concentration matters for students because internships, extension placements, and entry-level hiring all flow through state-specific employer networks built around those land-grant anchor institutions.

The earnings picture carries one genuinely unusual signal. Associate's completers report a five-year median of $61,971, while bachelor's completers report $55,977 — an inversion of the usual degree-level gradient. The most likely explanation is selection: two-year horticulture programs often serve working adults already employed in nurseries, greenhouses, and landscape operations, and those students return to supervisory or specialty-grower roles that pay well relative to new bachelor's graduates in their first post-degree years. The career list points in several directions. Farmers and agricultural managers post the highest median wage at $87,980 but require only a high school diploma; soil and plant scientists at $71,410 (5.4% projected growth) are the cleanest bachelor's-entry scientific role; farm and home management educators ($58,120) require a master's; and agricultural sciences postsecondary teachers ($86,350) require a doctoral degree. Several of the listed careers also post negative projected growth — farmers and managers at -1.3%, farm and home management educators at -2.5% — reflecting long-running consolidation in US agriculture.

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
Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers $88k -1.3% High school diploma or equivalent
Soil and plant scientists $71k +5.4% Bachelor's degree
Farm and home management educators $58k -2.5% Master's degree
Agricultural sciences teachers, postsecondary $86k +4.1% Doctoral or professional 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

$56k

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

Associate's

$62k

Bachelor's

$56k

Who this major is for

Students drawn to working directly with cultivated plants — growers, researchers, breeders, extension specialists — are the core audience, especially those who want scientific depth rather than operational training. Comfort with biology and chemistry, patience for long-cycle experimentation (plant trials take seasons, not weeks), and interest in how environmental variables shape plant performance all indicate strong fit. The land-grant concentration makes this a natural choice for students in ag-economy states who want state-university tuition, extension-service exposure, and a regional employer network. Targeting a bachelor's-level scientist role through seed companies, state ag departments, USDA, or university research stations — where soil and plant scientist wages ($71,410, 5.4% growth) are the relevant benchmark — gives the curriculum an obvious anchor.

Reconsider this major if your interest in plants is primarily operational — running a greenhouse, nursery, or landscape business — rather than scientific. Applied Horticulture/Horticulture Operations, General (CIP 01.0601) is the operations track and actually awards more degrees per year (809 versus 624 here), typically at community and technical colleges with curricula built around the business and production side. Students drawn to the business rather than biology of agriculture should look at Agribusiness/Agricultural Business Operations or Agricultural Business and Management. Students focused on row crops or grains belong in Agronomy and Crop Science. Finally, weigh the negative growth signals on some of the listed careers honestly — farmers and agricultural managers at -1.3% and farm and home management educators at -2.5% reflect structural trends the major itself cannot offset, which is a reason to aim squarely at the scientific track rather than the production-management track when choosing electives and internships.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Horticultural Science

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

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO 0 52 52
Iowa State University Ames, IA 0 43 43
Oregon State University Corvallis, OR 0 42 42
North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC 0 38 38
Missouri State University-Springfield Springfield, MO 0 34 34
Kansas State University Manhattan, KS 0 30 30
SUNY Morrisville Morrisville, NY 17 13 30
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA 0 28 28
Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 0 27 27
University of Georgia Athens, GA 0 26 26
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Animal Sciences, General

6,799 completions/yr

Agribusiness/Agricultural Business Operations

3,011 completions/yr

Agriculture, General

2,733 completions/yr

Agricultural Business and Management, General

1,697 completions/yr

Applied Horticulture/Horticulture Operations, General

809 completions/yr

Agronomy and Crop Science

730 completions/yr

Plant Sciences, General

483 completions/yr

Agricultural Production Operations, General

458 completions/yr
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

Why do associate's completers out-earn bachelor's completers in this major?
The data is striking: associate's completers report a five-year median of $61,971 while bachelor's completers report $55,977 — an inversion of the usual pattern. The most likely explanation is selection effects rather than degree quality. Two-year horticulture programs concentrate at schools serving working adults already employed in nurseries, greenhouses, and landscape operations, and those students often return to supervisory or specialty-grower roles that pay well relative to new bachelor's graduates entering the labor market. The bachelor's-level scientific path (soil and plant scientists at $71,410) takes longer to ramp, and the career listings include a farm and home management educator role requiring a master's degree. For an individual student, the headline fact is still that both credentials clear the $55K mark at the five-year mark — this is a major where neither path is economically inferior.
How is Horticultural Science different from Applied Horticulture/Horticulture Operations?
They are intentionally distinct CIP codes aimed at different labor-market rungs. Horticultural Science (01.1103) is the science track — breeding, physiology, plant pathology, scientific management of plant development — typically offered at land-grant universities and pointing toward scientist, researcher, and extension-specialist careers. Applied Horticulture/Horticulture Operations, General (01.0601) is the operations track — the data shows it has 809 completions a year versus 624 here — and it concentrates at community and technical colleges with curricula focused on running greenhouses, nurseries, and landscape businesses. The operational track is the larger program by completions but leads to different destinations; pick the science track when the goal is research, breeding, or scientific management, and the operations track when the goal is running a growing operation.
Which schools lead the program and why are they nearly all land-grants?
The top ten is almost entirely land-grant universities: Colorado State University-Fort Collins leads with 52 bachelor's completions, followed by Iowa State (43), Oregon State (42), North Carolina State (38), Missouri State (34), Kansas State (30), SUNY Morrisville (30, split associate's and bachelor's), Virginia Tech (28), Michigan State (27), and the University of Georgia (26). Land-grant institutions were created under the Morrill Acts specifically to house agricultural and mechanical sciences, and that legacy still funds the teaching greenhouses, cooperative extension services, and applied research plots a horticulture program needs. For students, the practical consequence is internship access through extension, exposure to state-specific commercial growing operations, and a tight alumni network into USDA, state ag departments, and major nursery or produce employers.
What are the realistic bachelor's-level career destinations?
The cleanest bachelor's-entry path is soil and plant scientists at $71,410 median wage with 5.4% projected growth — scientific roles at seed companies, state or federal ag departments, and university research stations. The top-earning career on the list, farmers and agricultural managers at $87,980, lists high school as the typical education, meaning a bachelor's in horticulture is neither required nor particularly advantageous for that specific role (operational experience and capital access matter more). Farm and home management educators ($58,120) require a master's and typically work in cooperative extension. Agricultural sciences postsecondary teachers ($86,350) require a doctoral degree and represent a long academic trajectory. Framed honestly, the bachelor's-level ceiling inside the career list is the soil and plant scientist role; graduate school opens the educator and academic paths.
Is job growth a concern in this field?
The career list shows mixed signals worth flagging. Soil and plant scientists at 5.4% growth and agricultural sciences postsecondary teachers at 4.1% are both above zero but below the general economy average. Farmers and agricultural managers post -1.3% projected growth and farm and home management educators post -2.5% — both contracting. That pattern is consistent with long-running consolidation in US agriculture, where fewer, larger operations reduce the count of owner-operators and traditional extension roles even as scientific and technical roles grow modestly. The implication for students is that the bachelor's-level scientist path has the strongest growth trajectory among the listed careers, and production-management or extension-educator paths face headwinds the degree itself cannot fix.