Admission Requirements

In addition to general Graduate School requirements, the Department of Horticulture and Natural Resources has the following requirements for admission.

Course requirements

No specific course requirements.  Applicants for admission to Ph.D. degree programs are expected to have completion of a MS degree in a field relevant to the graduate program of interest.

Grade requirements

GPA of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale, based on the courses taken during the last two academic years.

Graduate record examination

Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is not required.

More detailed admission information for Ph.D. degree programs can be found at this site.

Course Requirements

The Ph.D. requires at least three years of full-time study beyond the bachelor’s degree, equivalent to at least 90 semester hours of graduate course work and research credits. A master’s degree is a requirement for admission and represents 30 credits toward the 90 credits required for the doctorate. The courses that can be applied should be relevant to the current Ph.D. program. Thus, course and curriculum requirements are as follows:

• HORT 951 - Horticulture Graduate Seminar Credits: 1 †
• Of the 24 to 30 hours of course work credit hours beyond the master’s degree approved by the supervisory committee, 15 credit hours should be at the 800-level or above, in addition to doctoral research credit hours.
• For course work beyond the master’s degree, no more than 6 credit hours of 500-level courses are permitted in a doctoral program.  No 500-level course taken in the student’s major field of study, i.e., Department, may appear in the program of study.
• Not more than 6 hours of problems or other individualized courses should ordinarily appear on the program of study for the doctoral program.
• For students who bypass the master’s degree, the program of study must include at least 15 credit hours at the 800-level or above, in addition to doctoral research credit hours.  No more than 12 credit hours of 500 level courses are permitted in a doctoral program and they must come from outside the student’s major field of study (i.e., Department).

†Note: Each Ph.D. degree program must include 3 credit hours of Graduate Seminar (HORT 951 ).

• 
  Research

• HORT 999 - Research in Horticulture, PhD Credits: 1-18 (30-36)

• 
  30 - 36 credit hours of research are required. The number of research credits should accurately reflect the emphasis on research inherent in the Ph.D. degree.
   

  More detailed course work information for Ph.D. degree programs can be found at this site.

Total Hours Required for Doctorate: 90