College Vision for Student Success
Penn State Agricultural Sciences will equip students with a transformational, career-launching education through a portfolio of adaptable learning experiences that meet students where they are and support multiple pathways to success. By blending classroom learning, lab and field research, industry engagement, and disciplinary leadership and Extension experiences, graduates are prepared to be globally aware, equity-minded leaders who drive innovation with skill, confidence, and integrity.
Strategic Investment Priorities
Priority 1.1: Experiential Learning: Local to Global
Objective
Expand high-impact experiential learning opportunities (internships/externships, co-ops, other work-based learning; lab and field research, study abroad) that leverage our unique laboratory, farm, forest, and field infrastructure and our long history of work with partners around the world. Our goal is to provide opportunities for every student who wants to engage in experiential learning.
Why this matters
Agricultural employers demand graduates with technical and interpersonal competencies. Our working landscapes provide unparalleled learning laboratories that set Penn State graduates apart.
Key Initiatives
- Expand experiential learning opportunities in classrooms, labs, research farms, fields and forests, and overseas.
- Create and fund student management experiences at our farms.
- Expand and develop semester-long Capstone Experiences in which students in all majors engage in high-impact, experiential learning initiatives tailored to their field of study while contributing to broader agricultural and societal outcomes.
- Create modular "micro-credentials" in our mission areas that students can complete alongside the major that complements their degree program.
- Strengthen and expand partnerships with agricultural industries.
Responsible Units
Office for Undergraduate Education, academic departments, Ag Sciences Global, Office of Access and Equity
Metrics and Targets
| Measure | Baseline (2025) | Year 5 Target (2031) |
|---|---|---|
| Development of a professional development faculty cohort fellow program focused on high-impact opportunities | 0 | 3 cohort groups |
| Create internship opportunities at Penn State research farms. | 0 | 10 student interns/academic year starting in year 3 |
| Expansion and development of Capstone Experience course | Collecting in FY27 | 75% of majors graduating with the Capstone Experience course |
| Development of modular “micro-credentials.” | 0 | 5 modules |
| Increase on-campus events with industry partners | Collecting in FY27 | +10% annually |
Priority 1.2: Student Support and Achievement
Objective
Lower financial barriers and close achievement gaps to ensure all students—particularly first-generation and historically underrepresented students—have access to focused advising, mentorship, and financial support.
Why this matters
The value of higher education, particularly educating citizens who would contribute to a thriving democracy, was at the core of our founding when we were charged with “educating the children of toil.” Our College and Penn State have a mission to help people and the Commonwealth thrive. As our society becomes more diverse and complex, the College of Agricultural Sciences must ensure access to our programs and provide support so that all students can achieve their potential and have equal opportunities for experiential learning. Recruitment, retention, and graduation gaps reveal opportunities to advance our mission better and strengthen support mechanisms.
Key Initiatives
- Build a Student Success Center in the Ag Administration building that integrates Office for Undergraduate Education, Ag Sciences Global and the Office of Access and Equity services for our students from the point of first contact at recruiting through their time pursuing their degree and when they return as alumni to help mentor the next generation of graduates from the college.
- Expand existing proactive and focused advising models with new student success coaches that will be housed in our Student Success Center.
- Develop and administer annually a multi-point student satisfaction survey.
- Increase awareness and availability of financial emergency aid for students in need.
Responsible Units
Office for Undergraduate Education, academic departments, Ag Sciences Global, Office of Access and Equity, Division of Development and Alumni Relations.
Metrics and Targets
| Measure | Baseline (2025) | Year 5 Target (2031) |
|---|---|---|
| Four/five-year graduation rate* 1 | 69.8%/82.25% (2020 Cohort) | +10 percentage points |
| First-year retention rate 1 | 90.8% (2024 cohort) | 95% |
| Multi-point Student Satisfaction Survey | Deployed in FY27 | TBD based on survey development at 25% response rate |
| Percent of students requesting financial emergency aid who receive aid from the college | 66.7% (2025/2026) | 85% |
*Based on the number of first-year students who start in the College of Agricultural Sciences 1 OPAIR Graduation and Retention Extended dashboard, accessed on 5/22/2026
Priority 1.3: Graduate Education Excellence
Objective
Develop the next generation of leaders and launch graduate students into high-impact careers through enhanced mentoring, interdisciplinary training, and professional development.
Why this matters
The U.S. leads the world in training students for graduate degrees. In the U.S., graduate education follows a research university apprenticeship model, in which faculty serve as masters of a craft and graduate students, as apprentices, learn by working alongside them on sustained scholarly or scientific projects until they can independently define and advance a line of inquiry. The Office for Research and Graduate Education has prioritized preparing graduate students for high-impact career paths and attracting a wider diversity of students into agricultural sciences programs. Graduate students represent one of the College's and the nation’s most influential alumni groups and a significant economic asset as international graduate students training in the U.S. contribute billions to the U.S. economy.
Key Initiatives
- Reduce time-to-degree for PhD students through structured advising, timely scheduled milestone exams, comprehensive and actionable annual evaluations, and committee accountability.
- Adopt an online, mandatory, detailed, annual graduate student evaluation and professional development portal.
- Expand participation in interdisciplinary graduate training opportunities aligned with cross-cutting research themes and College priorities.
- Enhance and expand professional development training to prepare students for academic and non-academic career paths through opportunities in teaching, leadership, policy, science communication, international research collaboration, E&I, and technological innovation and commercialization.
- Foster interactions between graduate students and industry partners for workforce recruitment and collaborative research experiences.
Responsible Units
Office for Research and Graduate Education, academic departments, Fox Graduate School, Office of Access and Equity, Ag Sciences Global
Metrics and Targets
| Measure | Baseline (2025) | Year 5 Target (2031) |
|---|---|---|
| PhD time-to-degree (in major/degree—FGS Executive Suite data) | TBD | 90% completed in 5.0 years |
| MS time-to-degree (in major/degree—FGS Executive Suite data) | TBD | 90% completed in 2.5 years |
| Graduate student placement rate (employed/continuing education within 12 months) for PhD (FGS Doctoral Placement Portal) | 91.5% (AY24) | >95% |
| Graduate student placement rate (employed/continuing education within 12 months) for Masters (tracked by program) | Start tracking FY26 | >95% |
| Graduate students co-advised across departments/colleges (residential programs) | (1.4%, n=436 FA25) | >>3% |
| Enrollment in dual-title degree programs at the time of graduation (data dashboard under development) | TBD | TBD |
