The Best Universities for PhDs in Agriculture in the USA (2023) | FindAMasters.com

The Best Universities for PhDs in Agriculture in the USA (2023)

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This article was written with the assistance of generative AI. All AI content on our site is guided and vetted for accuracy by humans, and data referenced is collected from reliable, authoritative sources.

Why Study Agriculture in the USA

There are many reasons why someone might want to study Agriculture at a university in the USA. Here are just a few:

  • Pursuing a PhD in Agriculture in the USA allows students to gain a deep understanding of modern agricultural practices, techniques, crop management and farm administration.
  • The US has a wide range of career prospects once they complete their PhD, for example students can work as an Agro specialist adviser at agencies like USDA or Agribusiness firms.
  • Many agricultural universities in the USA are globally recognised for their cutting-edge research and scholarly contribution to the field of Agriculture.
  • Studying a PhD in the USA provides students with a chance to interact with peers from different cultural backgrounds, which enriches their understanding of international issues that impact global food production.

The Best Universities for Agriculture in the USA

The following tables give the 10 top universities in the USA for Agriculture, according to global and local university rankings. It can show you which American universities are amongst the best in the world - and help you compare institutions on an international level.

This information is based on the latest rankings tables, researched and published by Times Higher Education, QS and Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).

Each ranking system uses its own methodology, with different factors having more or less influence on a university's result.

Our guide has more information on how to use international rankings to decide on the best research universities for PhD study.


Top 10 Universities in the USA for Agriculture (Times Higher Education)
University USA Rank Global Rank
Harvard University 1 1
Yale University 2 7
Stanford University 3 5
University of Washington 4 16
University of California, Berkeley 5 9
University of Pennsylvania 6 21
University of California, Davis 7 28
Cornell University 8 19
University of California, Los Angeles 9 =24
Princeton University 10 8
This information is based on the research score from the latest rankings tables, researched and published by Times Higher Education. Visit their website for more information.

What should I know about the Times Higher Education rankings?

The Times Higher Education rankings are strong in academic focus and diverse teaching metrics, but do not include employer-specific metrics. Additionally, the rankings may not include all specialist institutions.


Top 10 Universities in the USA for Agriculture (QS)
University USA Rank Global Rank
University of Massachusetts Amherst 1 30
University of California, Berkeley 2 =12
Colorado State University 3 =53
Duke University 4 91
University of Montana Missoula 5 251-300
University of Maryland, College Park 6 =99
Montana State University - Bozeman 7 301-350
Yale University 8 69
University of California, Riverside 9 =72
Cornell University 10 4
This information is based on the citations per paper score from the latest rankings tables, researched and published by QS World University Rankings. Visit their website for more information.

What should I know about the QS rankings?

The QS World University Rankings are designed to meet the needs of prospective students, with more weight given to student-centric metrics such as staff/student ratio, international recruitment and employer opinion. The rankings are balanced between qualitative and quantitative data, but give less weight to research than some other rankings.


Top 10 Universities in the USA for Agriculture (ARWU)
University USA Rank Global Rank
University of Florida 1 8
University of California, Davis 2 6
Cornell University 3 9
Michigan State University 4 12
University of Wisconin - Madison 5 20
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 6 23
The University of Georgia 7 33
North Carolina State University - Raleigh 8 34
Texas A&M University 9 31
Iowa State University 10 27
This information is based on the number of papers published by an institution in an academic subject in journals, this is from the latest rankings tables, researched and published by Academic Ranking of World Universities. Visit their website for more information.

What should I know about the ARWU rankings?

The ARWU rankings reflect the presence of elite academics and the future academic success of graduates. However, they do not directly assess the quality of education at a university or take into account other aspects of university performance.


Last Updated: 27 September 2023