Courses and Programs of Study

In general, you must have completed an undergraduate degree program with a grade point average greater than or equal to 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. While an undergraduate background in agricultural or food sciences is encouraged, it is not required. Degrees in natural sciences, environmental sciences, engineering, computer science, as well as business and social sciences are welcome to apply. At least two years of professional work experience and some sort of entrepreneurial experience are recommended but not required. The admissions process evaluates each applicant based on the totality of your application packet.

If admitted, please notify us of your intention to enroll, as soon as that decision has been made. If necessary, it is possible to defer start of the program to the subsequent year.

Professional Development 

1. An understanding of the value-added system of agriculture and food, its issues, and their implications in a larger societal context. 
2. A network of personal and professional connections within the agribusiness/food and investor communities with Colorado, nationally, and globally. 
3. An understanding of and acculturation to the high professional expectations and standards of conduct within the agribusiness/food industry and the startup community. 
4. Practical experience assembling and working within teams, including assessment of personal traits and talents, recruitment of team members, formulation of team strategy, and collective decision making. 
5. The capability to work as a team in partnership with an external researcher or innovator, who has an idea with commercial potential, to create value with that partner based upon their idea. Engagement will be such that students have a sense of ownership in the outcome. In addition, the student will be able to repeat the team-based value creation process and thereby successfully launch other business ventures in the future.  

Technical Competence 

1. Competence in selecting and utilizing appropriate methods, evidence, and resources to solve real-world challenges beyond the context of the classroom. 
2. Familiarity and fluency with the concepts and terminology of the lifecycle of a new business startup company, from inception of the initial idea, through the stages of validation, funding, founding, product launch, growth, and exit. 
3. An applied understanding of financial concepts and tools necessary to generate and evaluate financial performance of an business. 
4. An ability to develop a successful marketing plan for a new product, service, or technology, including the ability to do market research, identify key market niches, and position it, so that it is presented in its best light to potential customers and investors. 
5. An ability to identify and pursue all potential sources of investment capital needed to carry a business idea from concept to commercial launch. 
6. Competence in the legal dimensions of business startups and be able to take steps to design the legal, contractual, and intellectual property structures that form a successful venture and help to protect it from various risks.  

Problem-solving and Opportunity-seizing Skills 

1. An ability to identify a problem—or, conversely, an opportunity—to ascertain its scope, to evaluate resources available to address it, to formulate alternative solutions, to select a best path of action, and to pursue it. 
2. An ability to critically evaluate the viability of a business idea and to engage design principles to iterate the idea and improve upon its viability.  

Communication skills 

1. Proficiency in oral and written communications in terms of substance, organization, mechanics, documentation, synthesis, and persuasion, particularly as it relates to proposing and advocating for a new business. 
2. An ability to put together an effective pitch (written and verbal) to frame and communicate a new business idea to a range of stakeholders. 
3. An ability to write a detailed, coherent business plan to map out the growth potential and thus the investment opportunity of a new business idea.  

Leadership 

1. A personal identity as an entrepreneur, innovator, and agent of change within the business community and the world at large. 
2. Leadership qualities that can be used in professional, personal, and community contexts, including vision, initiative, personal responsibility, team building, and motivating collaborative or collective action. 

Total credits required for the Masters of Agribusiness and Food Innovation Management are 35 credit hours. 

• 26 credits earned as required courses
  
• 9 credits earned in practicum courses

For more information, see sections below on Timing and Milestones to Master’s Degree Completion and Practicum Requirements. 

Total credits required for the Certificate of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (applied for separately and issued by the College of Business) are 9 credit hours.

• 4 credits selected from the list of core required courses
  5 credits selected from the list of other approved courses

For more information, see section below on Graduate Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Agribusiness and Food pathway. Note: Credits may be counted toward both the Master’s degree and the Certificate simultaneously, thus it is possible to fulfill requirements for both the Master’s degree and the Certificate by taking just the 35 credits for the Master’s.  

For a student engaging in full time study, the masters program can be completed in four semesters (Fall, Spring, Summer, Fall) over 16 months or roughly 1½ years:

The following are suggested guidelines intended to result in expeditious completion of a student’s degree requirements. A complete list of courses can be found in the CSU Catalog.

For students who engage in the program on a part-time basis, the full program can be completed in seven semesters or 28 months, or roughly 2½ years:

The practicum project enables this Plan C master’s program to offer a degree-level final project experience entirely via enrolled coursework rather than as a separate standalone requirement such as a thesis or technical paper.*  From the beginning of the program, a series of three courses prepare students for their practicum project: 

• AREC 511 Opportunities in the Agriculture Value Chain (2 credits) 
• AREC 513 Idea Evaluation in Agriculture Value Chains (2 credits) 
• AREC 517 Entrepreneurial Identity and Team Formation (2 credits) 

In their final year, students enroll in a sequence of practicum courses in which they will execute on a series of exercises and milestones to potentially launch a new business and to earn the final 9 credits required for the degree: 

• AREC 586A. New Venture Launch Practicum: Explore and Validate Value Proposition (2 credits) 
• AREC 586B. New Venture Launch Practicum: Communicate, Design & Iterate (2 credits) 
• AREC 586C. New Venture Launch Practicum: Final Evaluation, Presentation and Launch (5 credits) 

For more information, please visit the Practicum Projects page. 

 (*The Graduate School of Colorado State University separates master’s degrees into three types based upon degree requirements: 

• Plan A—requires a research-based thesis, evaluated by a Master’s committee and filed with the Graduate School 
• Plan B—requires a professional or technical paper, evaluated by a Master’s committee 
• Plan C—coursework only) 

A separate application must be submitted via the Graduate School. It is strongly recommended to submit an application to the Certificate as soon as you receive notification that you are recommended for admission to the Master’s program. See the How to Apply page for instructions on applying to the Certificate.

 Requirements for a Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship issued by CSU’s College of Business MBA program can be met by courses offered in the Agribusiness and Food Innovation Management program, as follows: 

 Core Required Courses: 

• BUS 646 Building Value Through Creativity and Innovation – 2 credits 
• AREC 513 Idea Evaluation in Agriculture Value Chains – 2 credits 

Choose 5 credits from among the following: 

College of Business courses: 

• BUS 620 Leadership & Teams – 2 credits 

Agricultural and Resource Economics courses: 

• AREC 511 Opportunities in the Agriculture Value Chain – 2 credits 
• AREC 514 Entrepreneurial Accounting and Finance – 2 credits 
• AREC 516 Business Economics for the Entrepreneur – 2 credits 
• AREC 518 Raising Capital in the Agriculture Sector – 2 credits 
• AREC 520 Intellectual Property in Food & Agriculture – 2 credits 
• AREC 521 New Food Product Development – 2 credits  

Credits may be counted toward both the Master’s degree and the Certificate simultaneously, thus it is possible to earn both the Master’s degree and the Certificate by taking the 35 credits required for the Masters.  

Regular course work is defined as courses other than independent or group studies, research courses, open seminars, independent study credits, study abroad, U.S. travel, practicum, internship, field placement, unique title courses offered through continuing education, and any courses graded pass/fail.

Grade requirements:

• An overall 3.00 grade point average must be maintained in regular and non-regular courses graded traditionally – A through F.
• The grade point average in required courses included on the approved program of study, GS-6, must also equal at least 3.00.
• Grades of C or higher must be earned in all required courses on a program of study.

D grades may be accepted in background courses, but such courses must be included in the computation of the cumulative grade point average.

Standards and requirements for off-campus graduate study are the same as those standards and requirements on campus. The academic Department Head has the basic responsibility for the implementation of this policy.

Academic probation: failure to maintain good academic standing results in the student being placed on academic probation and a loss of eligibility for departmental funding. New regularly admitted students will not be placed on probation until they have completed 12 regular credits or two semesters of graduate work, whichever comes first. The probationary period extends for one semester beyond the one in which this status is acquired and during which the student registers for courses that affect the grade point average, i.e., traditionally graded regular and non-regular courses. The period allowed between being placed on probation and registering for courses that affect the grade point average shall be limited by the student’s advisory committee within their criteria for determining satisfactory progress. Students on probation are subject to dismissal by the academic department or the Vice Provost for Graduate Affairs at the end of the probationary semester unless good academic standing has been regained. This requires adequate improvement in cumulative grade point averages, 3.00 and/or satisfactory progress as determined by the student’s graduate advisory committee.

When a student’s advisors or the program faculty find that a student is making unsatisfactory progress toward the degree due to factors other than grade point average and that satisfactory progress cannot be anticipated, a plan should be created and the following steps should be taken.

1. Inform the student of the concerns, create a progress plan with the student, develop a timeline and inform the student of the potential consequences (dismissal) if the progress is not satisfactory.
2. The advisors and faculty should keep in contact with the student to give feedback during the progress plan timeline and document such contacts and their outcomes.
3. At the end of the timeline, if progress is not adequate, the faculty may recommend dismissal from the program. The recommendation goes to the Department Head and the Dean of the Graduate School and should include documentation on the steps taken with justification for this action.

The recommendation must be referred to the Department Head for approval and the Dean of the Graduate School for final action.