Nc State University

Master's of Agricultural Education Degree

The Master's of Agricultural Education degree is a non-thesis degree and is designed primarily for people who currently (or would like to) teach agriculture at the middle school, high school and/or community college level. Student's gain an in depth knowledge of the context and content of school-based agricultural education. This degree program is 36 semester hours in length. This program is designed to be completed on-campus. At least 27 of the hours must be completed on-campus.  The other 9 hours can be completed by distance education.

Upon completion of the program, the student will receive the Master's degree and can also apply for the Master's (M) teaching license from the state of North Carolina (one has to apply for the teaching license-it does not automatically happen).  It should be noted that one has to first have the initial teaching license (the "A") before  applying for the "M". If one does not have the "A" license it is possible to work on that license while in the graduate program. This is done by enrollingsimultaneously in the NCSU LEAP program. 

This is a non-thesis degree. Students applying to this progam must take the Graduate Record Exam (GRE).


The requirements for the Master's of Agricultural Education degree are:

1. Complete the six core required courses (18 hours)
  • AEE 501 Foundations of Agricultural and Extension Education
  • AEE 505 Trends and Issues in Agricultural and Extension Education
  • AEE 526 Information Technologies in Agricultural and Extension Education
  • AEE 529 Curriculum Development in Agricultural and Extension Education (or AEE 595E Program Planning in Agricultural Education)
  • AEE 535 Teaching Agriculture in Public Schools
  • AEE 578 Scientific Inquiry in Agricultural and Extension Education
2. Complete 12 hours of subject matter courses

In order to qualify for the advanced (M) teaching license in North Carolina, one must complete 12 hours of course work that can be classified as subject matter or technical courses. The Department of Agricultural and Extension Education defines subject matter courses to be those containing substantial content that could be taught to high school agricultural students. Therefore nearly any course taught in the traditional fields of agriculture such as Animal Science, Crop Science, Horticulture, Agricultural and Resource Economics, Entomology, Forestry, etc. fit this definition. There are some courses that are taught within the Department that also contain content that could be taught to high school agricultural students. The AEE courses that qualify as subject matter courses include: 

  • AEE 503 Youth Organization Management
  • AEE 522 Experiential Learning in Agriculture
  • AEE 595 Teaching Biotechnology
  • AEE 530 Priority Management
  • AEE 507 Comparative Agricultural and Extension Education
  • AEE 560 Organizational and Administrative Leadership
  • AEE 595V Marketing
3. Complete 6 hours of elective courses

Students may choose any six hours of courses they desire. 

4. Prepare a teaching portfolio

In order to qualify for the advanced (M) teaching license in North Carolina, one must prepare a teaching portfolio. This portfolio will be presented to the student's advisory committee during the Master's comprehensive exam. More detail about this requirement can be found at http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/agexed/graede/portfolio.html

5. Complete the comprehensive Master's Examination

There is 1 1/2 - 2 hour oral comprehensive exam. This examination is based upon the student's courses work and focuses on the ability to synthesize and apply the information that has been taught. 

If a student wants the content of this degree but does not desire teacher certification, the student's graduate committee can approve appropriate modifications to the degree requirements.

While you will probably never need to know--the Graduate School code for this degree program is ATE(MR).

A table comparing all five Master's degree programs offered by the Department of Agricultural and Extension Education can be found at  http://www.ncsu.edu/cals/agexed/grad/masterschart.html.

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Agricultural and Extension Education
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
North Carolina State University
1 Lampe Drive - Box 7607
Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7607

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