New Major in Applied Plant & Soil Sciences
Stockbridge students are excited about a change to the school's selection of majors. A new Applied Plant & Soil Sciences major, offers students increased opportunities to flexibly focus their studies within the diverse range of specialties offered by Stockbridge faculty.
Beginning this Fall 2024, Stockbridge School of Agriculture is merging three long-standing bachelor of science programs—Horticultural Science, Plant & Soil Sciences, and Turfgrass Science & Management—into one comprehensive major titled Applied Plant & Soil Sciences (APSS).
The new APSS major provides the same long-standing foundation in the sciences, and offers students increased flexibility to select courses from across the Stockbridge course catalog. In addition to choosing electives, students in the new APSS major will select and complete a 12 to 14 credit focus in either business (borrowing courses in finance, economics, management and marketing from Isenberg School of Business), or science (borrowing additional lab courses from the Departments of Biology and Chemistry).
Current Students Can Still Complete Their Original Major
The three previous majors, Horticultural Science, Plant & Soil Sciences, and Turfgrass Science & Management, will stop accepting students after Fall 2024. Students starting one of these three majors in Fall 2024 or earlier are encouraged to complete those distinct requirements, but are also permitted to speak with their advisor about the option to roll all of their coursework over and complete the new APSS major instead.
APSS requirements include all of the required courses from the three sunsetting majors, and add a wide range of electives from which to flavor the major to one's interests. Students who change their major to APSS and complete the requirements will have "Applied Plant & Soil Sciences" appear on their diploma.
A Secondary Major for Scientists and Environmentalists
Students in Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, and allied sciences can now register for Applied Plant & Soil Sciences as a secondary major. Completing APSS as a secondary major requires a maximum of 69 to 77 credits. However, the credits needed to complete the secondary major can be significantly reduced, by up to 25 credits, by strategically choosing General Education courses that also satisfy Stockbridge School requirements. Students should work with their major advisor to be as efficient as possible with course selection.
An Academic Minor Option for All Majors
Students from any UMass major, who have an interest in plant and soil sciences, are encouraged to complete an optional 8-course Academic Minor in Applied Plant & Soil Sciences. The minor requires completion of the following three courses, (some of which also count for Gen Ed requirements in BS and PS as marked):
- STOCKSCH 105 Soils (4 cr) (BS)
- STOCKSCH 108 Intro to Botany (4 cr)
- CHEM 110 or 111 General Chemistry (4 cr) (PS)
Plus your choice of any five STOCKSCH elective courses, within these rules:
- Maximum of one STOCKSCH elective course can be 100-level
- Minimum of one STOCKSCH elective course must be 500-level
Specialized Associate Degree Programs To Continue
Please note that our 2-year associate degrees in Sustainable Horticulture, and Turfgrass Management will continue to be offered as distinct programs designed to make students employable in their field of choice as quickly as possible. The associate degree was the original degree offered by Stockbridge School of Agriculture at our founding, and we are the only part of the UMass system to offer 2-year associate degree programs today. Learn more about the Stockbridge Associate Degree programs.