Agricultural Economics, Ph.D.

(PAGEC)

The departmental-level academic course plan for each student will be developed in consultation with and approved by the student’s graduate student committee. The committee will include the student’s committee chair and at least two additional members of the graduate faculty from the Department of Agricultural Economics & Agribusiness, such that the requirements of the LSU Graduate School for graduate committees are satisfied.

The dissertation-based degree requires 57 hours of credit at the graduate level, including a maximum of 12 hours of credit for the dissertation project. The curricular requirements include:

• At least 45 hours at the 7000 level or above.
• A minimum core requirement of 21 hours in economics and agricultural economics courses (see the Graduate Student Handbook for more details).

The student must pass a qualifying exam, and general written and oral exams (collectively termed the General Defense). These exams are designed to test the student’s knowledge of the theoretical and empirical applications of economics as covered in the core courses. A comprehensive final oral exam and defense of the dissertation is also required.