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).
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. Two departmentally-defined field areas are available to choose from:
Markets and Information Economics
Environmental and Resource Economics
For each field area there are two required courses, a Fundamentals course and a Frontiers course.
For Markets and Information Economics:
AGEC 672 Fundamentals of Markets and Information Economics
AGEC 676 Frontiers in Markets and Information Economics
For Resource and Environmental Economics:
AGEC 673 Fundamentals of Resource and Environmental Economics
AGEC 677 Frontiers in Natural Resource and Environmental Economics
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
Qualifier Exam
Click here for a complete collection of past Qualifiers since 2000.
All Agricultural Economics PhD students are required to pass a comprehensive Qualifier Exam. The Qualifier is administered twice a year on the Monday before classes begin for the first Summer term and on August 1 (if August 1 falls on a weekend the exam will be held the first weekday prior to August 1). Traditional PhD students are required to take the Qualifier in May of their first year. Straight-through PhD students are required to take the Qualifier in May of their second year. Click here for more information about the Qualifier.
Preliminary Exams
Click here for a complete collection of past preliminary exams since 2003.
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) Markets and Information Economics or (2) 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.