West Virginia University
College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences

Are you interested in a master’s degree program to prepare you to:

  1. Seek a higher paying position in West Virginia’s rapidly growing forest or poultry industries?
  2. Improve your chances for admission to a College of Veterinary Medicine or other professional school?
  3. Upgrade your qualifications for a promotion within your current organization in a field of agriculture, forestry or consumer sciences?
  4. Make a career change into a field that involves production or processing of food and fiber?
  5. Change or initiate new dimensions to your current career?
  6. Start your own business in horticulture or lawn care?
  7. Obtain a broad educational base in the diverse area of environmental studies?
  8. Be able to qualify for student loans while undertaking the effort to achieve one of the goals listed above?

Then our Master of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences may be the program for you! Read on.

Did you do undergraduate work in liberal arts or in an applied area of agriculture, forestry or consumer sciences? You may want to improve breadth or depth of your background through the Master of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences, in order to apply successfully for professional education in health care, veterinary medicine or dietetics.

If you are a non-traditional student returning to school after several years in the work force, the Master of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences my help you take advantage of an opportunity for advancement. Such an opportunity could exist within a company or institution in agricultural or forest production, in a food and fiber processing industry, or in a field such as landscape architecture?

Are you a student who has made a late career decision or decided to change careers and who needs greater depth in one or more disciplines in agriculture, forestry and consumer sciences? Then you should consider the Master of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences!

The program is available in all Divisions of the College, provides breadth by including courses in at least two of these Divisions, and requires just 36 hours of course work. The program can be pursued on either a full-time or a part-time basis.

Master of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences

Admission Requirements:

Applicants must meet the minimum admission requirements of the University for regular graduate students, including a 2.75 grade-point average, in order to be a regular graduate student in this program. Students applying to this degree program are asked to provide a 500-word Statement of Academic and Professional Goals and Objectives. Applications are reviewed first by the division coordinator for the Master of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences Program in one of the Divisions of the College. Applicants selected for admission are recommended to the Dean of the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences.

If the student’s baccalaureate degree is not in a field sufficiently related to the proposed course of study, the division coordinator may recommend admission as a provisional student or completion of prerequisite undergraduate courses. Prime consideration is given to a program of study tailored to the career goals of the individual student.

Degree Requirements:

Satisfactory completion of 36 hours of graduate level course work is required for Master of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences Degree. A minimum of 18 hours must be selected from among graduate courses available within two Divisions of the college, with no fewer than 6 hours in either Division. No more than 12 hours of special topics or advanced study may be counted towards the degree. The student must maintain an overall grade-point average of 3.0 in all graduate courses approved by a graduate advisory committee. A 3-hour Problem Report may be included at the option of the student and the graduate advisory committee.

The graduate advisory committee shall consist of at least three members representing at least two Divisions with at least two being members of the Graduate Faculty of the College. The committee shall be formed with advice from the Division Coordinator for the program and an approved plan of study shall be submitted to the Dean during the first semester of enrollment. Upon completion of the course work, the candidate must pass either an oral or a written examination, given by the graduate advisory committee.

"This program is exactly what I was looking for. My goal is to become a practicing veterinarian. I do not want to conduct a research project or write a thesis, but I do want to learn more and to prepare myself to apply successfully to a college of veterinary medicine."

Tina Teets - Student admitted to the program

For More Information Contact:

Division Coordinators
Animal and Veterinary Sciences-Dr. Keith Inskeep (einskeep@wvu.edu)
P.O. Box 6108
Family and Consumer Sciences-Dr. Mary Head (mhead@wvu.edu)
P.O. Box 6124
Forestry-Dr. Joseph F. McNeel (jmcneel@wvu.edu)
P.O. Box 6125
Plant and Soil Science-Dr. William Bryan (wbryan@wvu.edu)
P.O. Box 6108
Resource Management-Dr. Gerard D’Souza (gdsouza@wvu.edu)
P.O. Box 6108
at: College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences
West Virginia University
Morgantown, WV 26506