Associate of Science Degree in Arboriculture and Community Forest Management

What's Arboriculture?

Trees provide a lot of benefits, such as shade, cleaning the air, and making our towns and cities nice places to live. Think of an arborist as a "tree physician."  Arborists plant, prune, and fertilize trees to keep them healthy.  When trees die or become unsafe, arborists remove them.  To become a qualified arborist, you need the right education and training.  At Stockbridge we quickly educate and train you for employment in this field, both through an internship, and by preparing you to sit for state arborist exams after just two years.

Convert your care for the environment into an employable skillset leading to a long and lucrative career.  If you like working outdoors, using your head and your hands, and improving the environment, a career in arboriculture is waiting for you. 

The Stockbridge Advantage

Established in 1893, the arboriculture program at the Stockbridge School of Agriculture is the oldest arboriculture program in the country. Many current leaders in the tree care industry earned their degree from Stockbridge, which has a proud tradition of offering two-year educational paths to a lifelong career in the green industries.  Our campus is an arboretum with 8000 trees identified and labelled, including champion trees and specimens from around the globe, creating an amazing living lab of tree varieties all in one place.

Classes are based on the latest arboricultural research and include many outdoor labs to give you the necessary hands-on skills to succeed.  The Stockbridge arboriculture program is coordinated by Kristina Bezanson, an ISA Board Master Certified Arborist, a Massachusetts Certified Arborist, and a qualified tree risk assessor.  Kristina received the 2023 Dennis Ryan Award from the International Society of Arboriculture’s New England chapter.  The award is named for Dr. Ryan, the previous coordinator of the arboriculture and urban forestry programs at UMass Amherst. 

The arboriculture program at the Stockbridge School of Agriculture has a great return on investment.  The path to earning the Stockbridge arboriculture degree includes a substantial internship opportunity.  In your very first year, you’ll get to earn-and-learn with a professional tree company, placing direct field experience on your resume before you graduate.  Many of our internships are provided by Stockbridge alumni who have gone on to start their own successful tree care companies.  The professional network you’ll join as a Stockbridge student is a strength of the program, making employment after graduation much easier to find.

Careers in Arboriculture

Americans annually spend $13 billion on tree care, and this amount continues to increase. Nationwide, there are growing career opportunities for arborists and tree workers, as more people live in towns and cities.  State and municipal governments are responding to climate change by hiring arborists to protect the health of their trees and shrubs, and to reap the benefits of increased shade, oxygen, and soil health.  The same is true for business owners, and for private homeowners, each of which represent additional growing markets in need of tree workers.  

Nationwide, jobs in tree work pay an average of $57,000 per year, but more in coastal states.  In Massachusetts, salaries start at $64,000 and quickly increase with certification and experience.  "The tree care industry today faces a critical shortage of trained professionals," states Peter Gerstenberg of the Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA).  In the Northeast, wages have increased dramatically and are above the national average. 

Over the next decade, the growth of the electrical grid, and the need to maintain the grid as storms grow more powerful, will require utility companies to hire more tree workers than ever before.  Already, we are seeing open job opportunities outpace the few schools like ours that prepare trained arborists.  With a wide variety of career opportunities in arboriculture, all of our graduates have multiple employment offers, from both tree companies and town governments seeing skilled tree workers and arborists.  Now is the time to enter this dynamic industry.

New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) Tution Break Program

Students who are residents of Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont are eligible for reduced tuition through the New England Tuition Break Program. Learn how to claim your NEBHE Tuition Break if accepted.

Want To See Your Future?

Have a look at Outside Careers which highlights successful tree care professionals and many great aspects of the arboriculture and urban forestry professions.

Check out some of our Stockbridge Alumni Success Stories.