Students Turning to Agriculture

Enrollment at many colleges of agriculture is reportedly booming as students look to study subjects that offer a path to a job upon graduation. This fall – for instance – the ag college at Iowa State University is expecting to surpass an enrollment record set 35 years ago. Iowa State reports a 95-percent job-placement rate for graduates from the colleges of engineering and agriculture. DuPont Pioneer Senior Human Resources Manager Cindy Heser says her company has been a top employer of College of Agriculture graduates for the past two years – and she says demand for skilled workers in the industry shows no signs of letting up. That’s due in part to the challenge of feeding the world’s growing population. Some predict ag productivity will need to increase 70-percent by 2050 to keep up.