Kent State University at Tuscarawas now offers 11
bachelor’s degrees with the addition of a new Bachelor
of Science in agribusiness.

Kent State University at Tuscarawas is now offering the Bachelor of Science in agribusiness. The degree was added to meet the need for professionals and entrepreneurs who have the educational background to become successful decision makers in the high-demand and rapidly changing agricultural industry.

"The Bachelor of Science in agribusiness has received overwhelming support from community, business and government leaders in and around Tuscarawas County," says Fran L. Haldar, Ph.D., assistant dean of Kent State Tuscarawas. "Agribusiness is a complex economic system that affects every member of the global community – from production to processing to distribution to consumer – and is a critical industry in Ohio. This leading industry supplies more jobs and contributes more to the state's favorable trade balance than any other single sector. We are excited to bring this program and its opportunities to our community."

Kent State Tuscarawas is the only campus in the university's eight-campus system to offer this degree. The Ohio Board of Regents approved the degree offering in June.

"Dr. Haldar and her team have worked very diligently in developing this degree during the past five years," says Brad Bielski, Ph.D., dean and chief administrative officer of Kent State Tuscarawas. "Their research included an initial survey of local and surrounding agricultural related businesses and the utilization of a public focus group. We are also very appreciative of the assistance we received in the development of the degree from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency (USDA), Farm Credit Services, Ohio Farm Bureaus, county extension offices and our newly formed Agribusiness Advisory Board, composed of area agribusiness professionals."

The degree blends business and agriculture with a focus on analytic and problem-solving skills, combined with the technical aspects of agriculture and food systems. According to Haldar, the coursework for the degree includes 14 new agribusiness courses, business courses and other Kent State required courses.

"We worked very closely with the faculty from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, who provided assistance, expertise and resources for the development of the program's curriculum," Haldar says. "The degree requires a minimum of 120 credit hours. Some of the new courses include Farm Business Management, Agricultural Finance, Farm Income Tax Management, Agricultural Price Analysis, Agricultural International Trade Policy and Agricultural Environmental Law. In addition, an internship is required with hands-on experience in order to graduate. Many existing associate degrees have coursework that will count toward this degree, since the degree includes courses in accounting, business, economics, English and mathematics."

Students majoring in agribusiness will be prepared for careers in farm management, management in an agribusiness firm, agricultural commodity merchandising, finance and lending, international trade, entrepreneurship, agricultural production, agribusiness sales management and food marketing, to name a few.

With the addition of this degree, Kent State Tuscarawas now offers 11 bachelor’s degrees and 17 associate degrees.

For more information about Kent State Tuscarawas, visit www.tusc.kent.edu.