A degree in Resource and Agribusiness Management positions students for a career in tomorrow’s rapidly changing global economy. This degree provides students with the business skills necessary to succeed in sales, marketing or management careers while developing applied tools to operate in small-business, finance, food, forestry or other natural resource-based industries. Students may focus on areas that include resource-based marketing, banking, retail sales, municipal or state government, hotel/restaurant management, tourism or other applied business areas.
In addition to the standard degree, three specialized concentrations are available. The Equine Business Management concentration leads to a Resource and Agribusiness Management degree with specialized training to excel in the equine industry. The second concentration, Agribusiness Administration, is for students interested in earning a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) in one year following the completion of their B.S. degree. The International concentration adds language study and other internationation courses to prepare students for internationally related work.
Other student opportunities include cooperative field experience, summer internships and study abroad. Some students participate in a unique opportunity to learn about cooperatives, small business credit systems and worldwide financial markets while gaining college credit. Qualifying students spend one week working hands-on in a Maine-based cooperative business, they visit the regional Farm Credit Bank in Springfield, Massachusetts to learn about bank administration and they visit Wall Street banking firms and financial institutions for four days to learn about national financial markets. Several students are also employed in departmental research or other work projects.
Other programs offered by the School of Economics include a B.A. in Economics, a B.A. in Financial Economics and an Environmental Management and Policy degree with two concentrations: Adventure Recreation Business Management, and Environmental Pre-Law. The department’s faculty also cooperate in the Ecology and Environmental Sciences degree.
Out-of-state students residing in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont enrolled in the Resource and Agribusiness Management degree, pay reduced tuition rather than out-of-state tuition rates under the New England Regional Student Program.