Agricultural Economics & Agribusiness (Graduate Program)

For information regarding the UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM, click here.  

Program Overview

The Department of Agricultural Economics & Agribusiness offers a unique opportunity for graduate study. As a part of the land-grant university system, the department has joint research, teaching, and service responsibilities with the  LSU Agricultural Center and LSU that enable it to address relevant issues pertaining to agriculture, economics, natural resources, and rural/community development in Louisiana, the nation, and the world. These joint research and extension components are instrumental in financially supporting the department’s MS and PhD programs, as well as in providing problem-solving research opportunities for graduate students. Graduate programs are an integral component of the department’s basic and applied research programs. The skills and research interests of the faculty provide a wide range of opportunities for graduate research projects. Interdisciplinary and regional research programs further expand the scope of research areas available to graduate students. In addition to the traditional programs in production, management, and marketing, departmental research includes agribusiness management, consumer economics, quantitative methods, environmental and natural resource management, international marketing and trade, and rural/community development.

Administration

Admission

Applications and supporting materials for all graduate study must be submitted through the online application site for the LSU Graduate School. Official transcripts, official test scores, and other materials which come from third-party sources must be mailed to: Graduate Student Services, 114 West David Boyd Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803. These paper documents are stored electronically and departments have access to all materials submitted by and/or on behalf of a student applying to graduate study.

Applications for admission are received and evaluated by the department throughout the year, but PhD students are typically admitted in the fall semester. Applicants must adhere to the application deadlines established by the Graduate School. In addition to meeting the general admission requirements of the Graduate School, successful applicants must have an adequate background in economics or business, statistics, and calculus. An adequate background includes at least a basic macroeconomic and an intermediate microeconomic theory course (for a total of six hours), a course in statistics, and a calculus course.

Students pursuing the MS degree may take calculus for business and economics (or equivalent), but PhD students are encouraged to choose the traditional calculus sequence. Preference for students applying for admission to the PhD program is given to students who have completed an MS or MA. Students applying for the PhD who have not completed an MS or MA will be evaluated by the departmental graduate committee regarding initial admission to either the MS or PhD program. Students who lack adequate background may be admitted to the graduate program with the provision that the required background coursework be completed. It is not necessary to have an undergraduate degree in agricultural economics or economics to succeed in this department. Students with baccalaureate degrees in animal science, engineering, mathematics, agronomy, business administration, and various areas of liberal arts have been admitted to and successfully completed graduate degree programs in agricultural economics.

Students seeking admission must submit satisfactory credentials from previous study, acceptable GRE scores (1000 or greater), and three letters of recommendation. International students whose native language is not English must also submit an acceptable TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE score.

Financial Assistance

Financial support is available on a competitive basis for highly qualified students. Assistantships are available through the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station and the College of Agriculture. Assistantships carry a waiver of non-resident tuition. Early application is encouraged, as many sources of funding have February 15 deadlines for completion of application materials. Additional details concerning availability of funds and/or applications for financial support are available from the department’s Director of Graduate Studies.

Graduate Faculty

(check current listings by department by clicking this link)

Maria Bampasidou (l finance, labor, and impact & program evaluation

Rex H. Caffey (M) • Natural resources, wetlands, the environment

Gail L. Cramer (EM) • Marketing, international trade, and agricultural policy

J. Matthew Fannin (M) • Rural and community economic development

Jeffrey M. Gillespie (M) • Production economics, farm management

R. Wes Harrison, Jr. (M) • Marketing, agribusiness

Roger A. Hinson (EM) • Marketing, agribusiness

Richard F. Kazmierczak Jr (M) • Resource and environmental economics

Walter R. Keithly, Jr. (7M) • Resource and environmental economics

P. Lynn Kennedy (M) • International trade, agribusiness

Krishna P. Paudel (M) • Development, environmental, and resource economics

J. Ross Pruitt (3F) • Livestock economics and farm management

Michael E. Salassi (M) • Farm management and production economics

Mark J. Schafer (M) • Sociology of education, comparative international development, rural sociology

Shaun Michael Tanger (6A) • Forest economics

John V. Westra (M) • Farm management and resource economics

Hector O. Zapata (M) • Econometrics, marketing, price analysis

Programs

• Agricultural Economics, M.S.

• Agricultural Economics, Ph.D.