Dual MS and LLM
Program Description
- Targeted for persons with a law degree - J.D. or LL.B.
- For those seeking Master's of Agricultural and Food Law
- For those wanting to simultaneously acquire M.S. in agricultural economics - typically non-thesis
- Joint program with School of Law
- Must meet requirements of both degree programs
- 12 credit hours counted towards both degrees
Degree Requirements
Because of the close complementarities in the study of agricultural and food law and agricultural economics, a student with a law degree (J.D. or LL.B.) can obtain both an LL.M. in agricultural and food law and an M.S. in agricultural economics in fewer courses than if they were to take both programs separately. Although the joint program is designed for students to take the M.S. non-thesis agribusiness concentration, the thesis concentration could be selected with proper petitioning and approval of the faculty.
- Admission to the program
- Successfully completing the courses (31 hours) included on an approved plan of study with a GPA of 2.85 or higher
- Passing the written comprehensive examination
Core Requirements
Four courses (12 semester credit hours) count for credit towards both programs, thus saving a semester’s time in comparison to doing both programs individually. The joint courses are:
LAW 7763 Agricultural Finance and Credit
AGEC 4163 Agricultural and Rural Development
AGEC 5133 Agricultural Environmental Resource Economics
AGEC 5153 Economics of Public Policy
3 hrs (choose one of)
LAW 7723 International Agricultural Transactions
LAW 7773 Water Law
LAW 7883 Agricultural Tax Planning
AGEC 5011 Seminar
Suggested Elective Courses
AGEC 4163 Agricultural and Rural Development
AGEC 4303 Advanced Agricultural Marketing Management
AGEC 4323 Agribusiness Entrepreneurship
AGEC 4373 Basis Trading Advanced Price Risk Management
AGEC 4403 Advanced Farm Business Management
AGEC 503V Internship in Agricultural Economics
AGEC 5613 Applied Econometrics
AGEC 5713 Food Safety Law
Any ACCT, ECON, FINN, ISYS, MBAD, MGMT, MKTG, OMGT, or WCOB class.
A maximum of 9 hours of 4000 level courses are allowed toward satisfying degree requirements.
Comprehensive Exam
The written exam consists of six questions: Management, Finance, Marketing, Policy, Economics, and Quantitative Methods. Each student is required to answer four questions and each question carries equal weighting. At the time of the exam, the student reviews the six questions and then decides which four questions to answer. The comprehensive exam is given after final exams at the end of the spring and fall semesters (in May and December) and in August (on demand). Because the exam is offered at the end of each semester, and because it takes at least one week for it to be graded, the results of the exam are typically announced after the University deadline for completing all degree requirements. Therefore, a student who successfully completes the exam in any given semester should not expect to be awarded the M.S. degree until the following semester. The possible grades are: (1) pass, (2) marginal pass and (3) fail. Students receiving a marginal pass may rewrite the marginal or failed areas on another examination that will be given three weeks after the original examination. Students who fail the exam will have to wait until the next regularly scheduled examination.