Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Economics (AEREC)

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STEPHEN M. SMITH, Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology
103 Armsby Building
814-865-5461

Degrees Conferred: Ph.D., M.S.

The graduate program emphasizes economic theory and quantitative methods as applied to the food and agricultural system, natural resources and the environment, and regional economics and economic development.

Graduate Option in Watershed Stewardship

M.S. students in this program may elect the Graduate Option in Watershed Stewardship. This option provides enhanced educational opportunities for students with an interest in water resources management. The Watershed Stewardship Option attracts students from several graduate programs and educates them to facilitate team-oriented, community-based watershed management planning directed at water resource problems. The Watershed Stewardship Option is coordinated with similar options in other graduate programs through the Center for Watershed Stewardship. The Graduate Option in Watershed Stewardship requires 18 credits of graduate course work when taken with the M.S. degree in Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Economics: 6 credits of breadth courses, 3 credits of environmental economics, 1 credit of Watershed Stewardship Seminar (AEREC 591), and 8 credits of Watershed Stewardship Practicum I and II (AEREC 570 and AEREC 571). Breadth courses consist of 3 credits of graduate course work from water resources science and 3 credits from either humanities or communications/design. For M.S. students, the 3 credits in environmental economics consist of Resource and Environmental Economics I (AEREC 519). In the watershed stewardship practicum courses, students work in multidisciplinary teams with community, government and business leaders to analyze and understand natural resource problems and creatively synthesize appropriate solutions in a written watershed management plan.

Lists of acceptable water resources science, humanities, and communication/design courses are maintained by the Center for Watershed Stewardship. Students may petition the Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Economics Graduate Program Committee and the Center for Watershed Stewardship to substitute higher level or equivalent courses to suit their specific backgrounds and goals. Courses taken for the Graduate Option in Watershed Stewardship may be used to satisfy other equivalent (400- or 500-level) degree requirements in the Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Economics graduate program with the concurrence of their adviser and the Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Economics Graduate Program Committee. The graduate committee for a student enrolled in the Option in Watershed Stewardship must include a faculty representative from the Center for Watershed Stewardship.

Admission Requirements

Scores from the Graduate Record examinations (GRE), or from a comparable substitute examination accepted by a graduate program and authorized by the dean of the Graduate School, are required for admission. At the discretion of a graduate program, a student may be admitted provisionally for graduate study in a program without these scores. Requirements listed here are in addition to general Graduate School requirements stated in the GENERAL INFORMATION section of the Graduate Bulletin.

Students entering the master’s program should have a total of 9 credits in agricultural economics and/or economics. Students entering the doctoral program should have successfully completed courses in intermediate micro- and macroeconomic theory, in differential and integral calculus and linear algebra, and in intermediate statistics. Students are permitted to enter the master’s and doctoral programs with deficiencies but must pass courses to eliminate deficiencies as soon as possible.

Students with a 3.00 junior/senior grade-point average (on a 4.00 scale) and with appropriate course backgrounds will be considered for admission. The best-qualified applicants will be accepted up to the number of spaces that are available for new students. Exceptions to the minimum 3.00 grade-point average may be made for students with special backgrounds, abilities, and interests.

Doctoral Degree Requirements

There is no foreign language requirement for the Ph.D. degree; rather, the student must satisfactorily complete courses in economic theory and quantitative methods.

Other Relevant Information

Students in this program may elect the dual-title degree program option in Operations Research for the Ph.D. and M.S. degrees.

Students may qualify for admission to the dual-title degree program option in Demography consisting of interdisciplinary course work, with special emphasis on the economic, social, and geographic issues arising from the dynamics of population change.

Student Aid

Graduate assistantships and other forms of student aid are described in the STUDENT AID section of the Graduate Bulletin.

Graduate courses carry numbers from 500 to 599 and 800 to 899. Advanced undergraduate courses numbered between 400 and 499 may be used to meet some graduate degree requirements when taken by graduate students. Courses below the 400 level may not. A graduate student may register for or audit these courses in order to make up deficiencies or to fill in gaps in previous education but not to meet requirements for an advanced degree.

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS (AG EC) course list

The Pennsylvania State University © 2004

This electronic Graduate Bulletin is a version of the official bulletin of The Pennsylvania State University. It is suggested that users refer to this electronic bulletin when seeking the latest information about the University's academic programs and courses. Printed versions of the Bulletin are also official copies of the programs, courses, and policies in effect at the time of printing.

DATE LAST REVIEWED BY PUBLICATIONS: 6/30/05

Last Revised by the Department: Summer Session 2008

Blue Sheet Item #: 36-05-100

Review Date: 2/26/08