Best Online Master’s in Agriculture and Agribusiness Degree Programs

Badge for BEST ONLINE MASTER'S IN AGRICULTURE & AGRIBUSINESS

Published: Sep 17, 2021
Updated: Feb 9, 2024

Find top-ranked online master’s in agriculture and agribusiness degree programs for students looking for managerial and executive positions in the field, such as agricultural lenders and educators, farm managers, crop insurance agents, commodity brokers, and agricultural policy analysts

Table of Contents

Top 10 Online Master's in Agriculture and Agribusiness

University of Arizona
University of Missouri
University of Arkansas
North Carolina State University
Virginia Tech
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Texas Tech University
Montana State University
State University of New York at Oswego
Sam Houston State University

University of Arizona
University of Missouri
Virginia Tech
North Carolina State University
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
University of Arkansas
Texas Tech University
Montana State University
Sam Houston State University
State University of New York at Oswego

East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania 94%
University of Tennessee at Martin 88%
University of Arizona 87%
Sam Houston State University 85%
State University of New York at Oswego 83%
University of Arkansas 79%
University of Missouri 79%
University of Nebraska–Lincoln 79%
Montana State University 73%
Texas Tech University 67%

Texas Tech University 21 to 1
University of Arkansas 20 to 1
Sam Houston State University 20 to 1
East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania 20 to 1
University of Missouri 18 to 1
Montana State University 18 to 1
University of Arizona 17 to 1
Virginia Tech 17 to 1
North Carolina State University 16 to 1
University of Nebraska–Lincoln 16 to 1

Virginia Tech $12,104
University of Arizona $11,210
University of Missouri $10,452
Texas Tech University $8,935
University of Tennessee at Martin $8,378
University of Nebraska–Lincoln $7,770
East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania $7,716
University of Arkansas $7,666
State University of New York at Oswego $7,070
Southern Arkansas University $7,020

Vermont Law and Graduate School $42,000
Virginia Tech $14,521
University of Arizona $12,348
State University of New York at Oswego $11,310
University of Missouri $10,447
East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania $10,062
University of Tennessee at Martin $9,278
North Carolina State University $9,095
University of Arkansas $7,875
Texas Tech University $6,956

East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania
University of Tennessee at Martin
Vermont Law and Graduate School
Southern Arkansas University
Sam Houston State University
State University of New York at Oswego
Montana State University
Texas Tech University
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Virginia Tech

Vermont Law and Graduate School
East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania
Southern Arkansas University
University of Tennessee at Martin
State University of New York at Oswego
Sam Houston State University
Montana State University
Texas Tech University
University of Arkansas
University of Nebraska–Lincoln

North Carolina State University 47%
Virginia Tech 57%
Southern Arkansas University 64%
Texas Tech University 67%
Montana State University 73%
University of Nebraska–Lincoln 79%
University of Missouri 79%
University of Arkansas 79%
State University of New York at Oswego 83%
Sam Houston State University 85%

Southern Arkansas University 15 to 1
University of Tennessee at Martin 15 to 1
North Carolina State University 16 to 1
University of Nebraska–Lincoln 16 to 1
State University of New York at Oswego 16 to 1
University of Arizona 17 to 1
Virginia Tech 17 to 1
University of Missouri 18 to 1
Montana State University 18 to 1
University of Arkansas 20 to 1

Montana State University $5,824
Sam Houston State University $5,856
North Carolina State University $6,535
Southern Arkansas University $7,020
State University of New York at Oswego $7,070
University of Arkansas $7,666
East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania $7,716
University of Nebraska–Lincoln $7,770
University of Tennessee at Martin $8,378
Texas Tech University $8,935

Montana State University $5,241
Southern Arkansas University $5,472
Sam Houston State University $5,765
University of Nebraska–Lincoln $6,138
Texas Tech University $6,956
University of Arkansas $7,875
North Carolina State University $9,095
University of Tennessee at Martin $9,278
East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania $10,062
University of Missouri $10,447

Featured Programs

Frequently Asked Questions About Agriculture and Agribusiness Degrees

Students earning the master’s degree in agribusiness will pursue an advanced study of economics and leadership practices in the context of farming, food production, and livestock management.

Students can earn this interdisciplinary graduate degree online or in person in about two years. Required credits vary by program, but students can expect to take between 30 and 40 credits. Some programs require a thesis, while others include an internship or practicum.

Graduates of agribusiness programs often find managerial and executive positions in the field, such as agricultural lenders and educators, farm managers, crop insurance agents, commodity brokers, and agricultural policy analysts.

How do we determine the best online agriculture and agribusiness master's degree programs?

Methodology

Pursuing your degree online doesn’t mean you need to settle for an inferior school. Today, most universities and colleges offer online degrees, and many respected schools are seeing significant growth in their numbers of online students.

The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great. This is why influence — i.e., the academic impact of faculty and alumni associated with a school — gets at the heart of what is truly best in education. The combined influence score of a college or university’s top academic influencers is the best indicator of academic excellence. For our online degree rankings, we focus on the academic influence of faculty and alumni in the specific disciplines we’re ranking.

If you are serious about finding the best online colleges, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching, and whether their graduates themselves are advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence. Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Influence, as measured by our InfluenceRanking engine, provides a ranking that is free from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.

Best Online Master’s in Agriculture and Agribusiness Degree Programs

Career Outlook for Students with Agribusiness Degree

Go to Degree Finder tool

Agribusiness/Agricultural Business Operations

Degree Level: Master's

Location: The U.S. (Private Schools)
Avg. Cost of Degree*: $10,510
Avg. Expenses*: $18,844
Avg. Starting Salary*: $88,480
Avg. Cost Recoup Time**: 6 years
Job Growth: -1.54%
Number of Jobs: 866,100
* denotes ‘annually’
** denotes ‘at 15% of annual salary’

Career Salaries

Career	Job Growth	Avg. Salary
Economists	5.14%	$115,730
Economics Teachers, Postsecondary	3.23%	$115,300
Agricultural Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary	4.21%	$85,260
Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers	-1.60%	$83,770
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products	0.74%	$65,630
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers	-4.40%	$63,450
Farm and Home Management Educators	-1.02%	$59,770
Computer User Support Specialists	5.13%	$59,240
First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers	3.05%	$57,320

Top Industries

Industry	Avg. Salary
Economists	$115,730
Economics Teachers, Postsecondary	$115,300
Agricultural Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary	$85,260
Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers	$83,770
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products	$65,630
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers	$63,450
Farm and Home Management Educators	$59,770
Computer User Support Specialists	$59,240
First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers	$57,320

Data from The Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Department of Education College Scorecard, The Department of Education NCES, and The Council for Community and Economic Research.

Not sure if an online master’s in agribusiness is for you? Check out our rankings for online master’s in environmental science, animation illustration, or health informatics!

Online Degree Frequently Asked Questions

If this is your first time taking an online course, the experience may require some adjustment. While you’ll generally learn the same content and take the same exams as your on-campus peers, the medium will likely require you to manage much of this experience independently. You’ll be accountable for your own time management, your ability to harness the technology at your fingertips, and your ability to focus on the lectures, lessons, and assignments at hand. This means you’ll need to create a suitable workspace for yourself, maintain a realistic schedule, and take it upon yourself to build relationships with your instructors and classmates. With online college, your goal is to find a balance between independence and engagement.

No. The only part of online education that’s easier is actually getting there. Taking the commute out of the equation means getting to class should be a lot more manageable. But that’s where it ends. In general, your online courses will incorporate the very same materials, concepts, and testing methods as would a traditional classroom.

And in many cases, you’ll even have the same instructors as your on-campus counterparts. In fact, if you are adjusting to the experience of independent learning or working with remote learning technology for the first time, online college may even be a little more challenging for you. For a few insights on how to manage this new experience, check out our 10 Tips for Adjusting to School Online.

Accreditation is especially important when it comes to online college. This is because the online education landscape is a mix of highly-reputable institutions and less-than-reputable for-profit schools. Accreditation gives you the power to differentiate between the two. Accreditation is a stamp of approval from an independent accrediting agency which indicates that a college or university is meeting standards of quality, credibility, and currency. School-wide accreditation falls into two major categories: regional and national accreditation. Regional accreditors generally hold jurisdiction only over schools in the states comprising their region, whereas national accreditors hold jurisdiction over schools in all states. Regional accreditation is widely regarded as a more rigorous standard of quality and credibility than national accreditation.

Attending a college or university which is not regionally accredited could limit your opportunities. When seeking an online education, we strongly recommend that students opt for regionally accredited schools. Regional accreditation ensures eligibility for federal loans and grants, ensures your college credits can be transferred between schools, and ensures that your degree credits can be accepted if you wish to earn an advanced degree.

As long as your online college degree is regionally accredited, you should have little difficulty transferring most of your credits or credentials to another regionally accredited undergraduate school. Every school carries its own standards and procedures for granting a transfer. In many cases, you will be required to navigate a bureaucracy in which some of your credits will be transferred and others will be jettisoned. However, provided that you have attended an online school with the proper regional accreditation, you should have plenty of options for transfer.

In most cases, as long you graduate from a well-regarded, regionally-accredited online college, prospective employers won’t look sideways at your degree. In fact, unless you attend an exclusively online college or university, there will likely be no specific indicator on your degree, transcript or resume differentiating your school from its brick-and-mortar counterpart. This means that your employer will likely only differentiate between an online and in-person degree if you mention this distinction.

While some employers may express concern about making the adjustment from online education to in-person workplace collaboration, many other employers will view your online degree as evidence of valuable 21st Century professional skills such as independence, self-motivation, time management, and tech savvy.

If you are a student who thrives on the dynamic energy of in-person discussion, who requires the physical surroundings of a classroom to feel engaged, or who considers the social aspects of education to be of equal importance to the actual content of your courses, online education will require some adjustment.

While there is much that can be supplanted or simulated through the online medium, some students may find that there is nothing which can replace the conversation, collaboration, and motivation that occur in an actual classroom setting. As you make the adjustment to online education, one of the biggest challenges you will likely face is overcoming this difference in order to the get the most out of your classes. Fortunately, we’ve got some great Tips for Online Education Beginners.

The advantages of online classes are many. First and foremost, online courses give you the freedom and flexibility to attend class from anywhere that works for you, whether you’re at home, in a coffee shop, or in a quiet conference room at work. In many cases, you’ll also enjoy the convenience of asynchronous learning opportunities-educational experiences that you can complete on your own schedule. This may include pre-taped lectures, ongoing chat-board discussions, and 24/7 access to digital materials. And of course, just as there are some learners who prefer the energy of a live classroom, there are those who learn best when working in their own personal space, free from distractions. If this sounds like you, you might find the solitude of online learning to be a major advantage.

Whether you’re just getting started on your college search, you’re looking for survival tips on your way to a bachelor’s degree, or you’re preparing for the transition into grad school, we’ve got guides, how to’s and tons of other valuable resources to keep you moving forward in your educational journey.

Do you have a question about this topic? Ask it here

Best Online Master’s in Agriculture and Agribusiness Degree Programs

Top 10 Online Master's in Agriculture and Agribusiness

Featured Programs

Frequently Asked Questions About Agriculture and Agribusiness Degrees

What topics are studied when getting a master’s in agribusiness?

How long does it take to get a master’s in agribusiness?

What can you do with a master’s in agribusiness?

Best Online Master’s in Agriculture and Agribusiness Degree Programs

Career Outlook for Agribusiness degree at University of Arizona

Online Degrees

Concentrations

Career Outlook for Agribusiness degree at University of Missouri

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Agribusiness degree at University of Arkansas

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Agribusiness degree at North Carolina State University

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Agribusiness degree at Virginia Tech

Online Degrees

Concentrations

Career Outlook for Agribusiness degree at University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Agribusiness degree at Texas Tech University

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Agribusiness degree at Montana State University

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Agribusiness degree at State University of New York at Oswego

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Agribusiness degree at Sam Houston State University

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Agribusiness degree at Southern Arkansas University

Online Degrees

Concentrations

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Agribusiness degree at University of Tennessee at Martin

Online Degrees

Concentrations

Career Outlook for Agribusiness degree at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Students with Agribusiness Degree

Agribusiness/Agricultural Business Operations

Degree Level: Master's

Career Salaries

Top Industries

Online Degree Frequently Asked Questions

What can I expect from an online college course?+

Is online college easier?+

Why does accreditation matter in online college?+

Will I be able to transfer my online college degree?+

Will employers respect my online degree?+

What are the disadvantages of online classes?+

What are the advantages of online classes?+

Resources for Prospective Grad Students