Graduate - Doctor of Philosophy

The PhD degree in Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University is a degree tailored to produce highly skilled applied economists focused on quantitatively-based economic research and analyses of managerial and policy questions as well as natural resource and environmental issues. These professionals are educated in a manner facilitating their pursuit of productive careers in academia, business, and government service.

Admission to the PhD program is available to students who have previously obtained a Master's degree ("traditional" PhD), as well as to students who have earned a B.S., but have not completed a Master's Degree ("straight-through" PhD).

Program Requirements

The PhD degree requires a minimum of 64 credit hours for the "traditional" program and 96 credit hours for the "straight-through" program, not including prerequisites. The curriculum is composed of four fundamental components:

1. Economic Theory and Applications
A theoretical component, taught by the highly ranked TAMU Department of Economics, consists of classes in macroeconomics, microeconomics, and econometric theory. The microeconomic component covers neoclassical theory, game theory, and risk analysis. This component may be complemented by additional economics courses depending on the student's interests.

The agricultural economics core component brings together theory and quantitative methods in the context of applied research and managerial and policy analysis. Classes in this area cover analysis of economic problems concerning firm production, household consumption, markets, industrial organization, and distribution of welfare.

2. Quantitative Methods
An applied quantitative methods component, taught within the Department of Agricultural Economics, covers research applications supported by tools from econometrics, mathematical programming, dynamic and stochastic programming, optimal control, and simulation.

3. Primary Field Areas
The primary field area requires 6 credit hours. Three departmentally-defined field areas are available to choose from:

Agribusiness and Managerial Economics
Markets and Information Economics
Environmental and Resource Economics

For each field area there are two required courses, a Fundamentals course and a Frontiers course. An individual Fundamentals course is taught for each field area (Fundamentals of Agribusiness and Managerial Economics (AGEC 671), Fundamentals of Markets and Information Economics (AGEC 672) and Fundamentals of Resource and Environmental Economics (AGEC 673)). The Frontiers course, Frontiers in Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics (AGEC 695), is a single course with three sections corresponding to the individual field areas.

4. Supporting Field Areas
In addition to two required primary field courses, students must take two field elective courses (6 credit hours) which will (1) provide greater depth in their primary field area or (2) constitute a second field. The field elective courses may be selected from AGEC courses in policy, consumption, resources, trade, production, and industrial organization, as well as from broader University offerings in finance, operations research, econometrics, statistics, and water resources, among many others.

Prerequisites: Math / Micro / Macro

Degree Planning Guides:
"Traditional" PhD
"Straight-through" PhD

Typical Schedule:
"Traditional" PhD
"Straight-through" PhD

PhD Examinations

Qualifier Exam

All Agricultural Economics PhD students are required to pass a comprehensive Qualifier Exam. The Qualifier is administered twice a year on the Wednesday before classes begin for the Spring semester and first Summer term of each year. Students must take the Qualifier within one year after prerequisites are completed. Normally, this will be in May of the first year of study for traditional PhD students and May of the second year for straight-through PhD students.

Preliminary Exams

Preliminary Examinations will be administered twice a year on the Thursday before classes begin for the Spring semester and first Summer term of each year. All PhD students are required to pass one written field preliminary exam in (1) Agribusiness and Managerial Economics (2) Markets and Information Economics or (3) Environmental and Resource Economics, and one oral preliminary exam. The oral preliminary exam is administered after the student has passed the written field preliminary exam and before the administration of the next round of written field exams.

Students normally take the departmental field preliminary examination the first time it is offered after they have completed the required field courses. Normally, this will be in May of the second year of study for traditional PhD students and May of the third year for straight-through PhD students. The Preliminary Examination must be taken no later than the end of the semester following the completion of the formal coursework on the degree plan.

Access to Past Exams

If you would like have access to past exams, please contact the Grad Office.