Of CSU Grads Land Jobs Related to Their Career Plans
95%
Of Online Undergraduate Students Would Choose CSU Again
$52K
Average Starting Salary of Recent CSU Grads
Degree Overview
See how this online bachelor's degree can prepare you to oversee successful horticultural operations, teaching you both the science and business of plant cultivation.
Earn your horticulture degree online with a concentration in horticultural business management
Horticulture is central to how humans survive and thrive on the planet — it feeds us, improves our mental and physical well-being, and creates the settings of our everyday lives. Yet, there are currently not enough skilled horticulturalists to meet growing needs for a safe and healthy food supply, and functional, scenic green spaces. By completing this online horticulture degree from Colorado State University, you can develop the knowledge and skills to nurture a healthier, more beautiful world, and pursue a career in an increasingly in-demand field.
Learn the science and business of growing plants
Growing and managing plants as a career requires you to understand both science and business, and this online horticulture bachelor's degree completion program emphasizes both of these areas. The curriculum spans the whole system of horticulture — the cycle from seed to product — ensuring you have a well-rounded background that will help you succeed in many facets of the green industry.
This program's horticulture science courses improve your understanding of plant growth, development, and environmental response, so you can better manage plant production and improve the quality and quantity of your yields. Specifically, you will learn about:
Plant identification
Pest management
Plant cultivation
Controlled environment agriculture
Additionally, agriculture-focused business courses train you in areas fundamental to managing a horticultural business. These courses focus on:
Finance
Marketing
Economics
Law
Online learning in a hands-on fashion
Horticulture is by nature a hands-on field, and although this program is online, it provides plenty of active and engaging learning opportunities. Projects like developing greenhouse models and writing business plans give you the practical experience you need to succeed in the industry. Many careers in horticulture involve sales, management, and finance, and this program helps you build your skills in these areas through courses with an agricultural focus.
Faculty also make it a priority to facilitate frequent and meaningful conversations through email, online discussion forums, video chat, and other applications. This gives you the opportunity to learn in-depth from researchers and practitioners who are passionate, knowledgeable, and experienced in all aspects of horticulture. Additionally, with an average class size of 21 students, this online horticulture bachelor's degree program allows you to interact closely with your peers.
Explore Careers
While an education may not be required for many entry-level jobs, more advanced, higher-paying horticulture careers require at least a bachelor's degree. When you earn your horticulture degree online with CSU, you gain scientific knowledge and business skills that will make you eligible for a wide variety of green industry jobs.
Potential job titles include:
Plant technician
Crew supervisor
Superintendent of operations
Sales person
Manger of propagation (garden center)
Inventory manager
Field supervisor
Landscape technician
Equipment operator
Grower manager
Greenhouse manager
Plant collections curator
Organizations that have a need for employees with an academic background in horticulture include:
Garden centers
City/county parks and recreation departments
CSAs
Nurseries
Public gardens
Landscape design firms
Greenhouses
Farms
Vineyards
Hear from Our Students
Heath Jorgenson
“CSU made a promise and delivered. I also delivered by putting in the effort. I’m now working as a horticulture and gardens consultant for private estates on the barrier islands. I use my CSU education every single day on the job and in my own garden. I’m finally respected as a horticulturist. I would absolutely recommend this program.”
Why Choose CSU?
As a student in CSU's online horticulture bachelor's program, you receive the same education, learn from the same faculty, and earn the same regionally accredited degree as students on campus. Additionally, you can expect:
A Strong Foundation in Science: This degree is science-focused, giving you knowledge to not only cultivate and manage plants, but to deeply understand plant biology and physiology, and effectively investigate and solve problems.
Practical Business Training: Many careers in horticulture involve sales, management, and finance, and this program helps you build your skills in these areas through courses with an agricultural focus.
A Program Born from a Rich History: CSU is well known for its horticulture programs, which date back to the 1920s. This long-standing history has led to the attainment of highly qualified faculty, and strong relationships with industry and academic societies. These close ties keep faculty, and the curriculum they design, finely tuned to the topics and techniques most relevant to industry today.
A Quality Learning Experience: With an average class size of 21 students, this program gives you the opportunity to interact closely with your instructors and your peers.
Convenience and Flexibility: The online format allows you to earn your degree from a reputable research university while maintaining a busy work schedule and personal life.
Grow your knowledge and focus on a topic that interests you. A degree minor can help you discover new passions and talents, and further specialize your education so you become more marketable to employers. Relevant courses often apply to both major and minor requirements, so a minor can be added without greatly changing your degree plan.
Courses already taken can apply to a minor regardless of when the minor is added to your student record. All minor requirements must be completed prior to graduation.
Build knowledge of production management, financial management, marketing management, international development, and trade through an agricultural lens. To earn the minor, you must complete 21 credits from the following courses:
Get a cross-cultural view of humanity and the broadly conceived dimensions of human behavior. You have the option to focus your anthropology studies on one or more sub-disciplinary divisions, including physical anthropology, archaeology, ethnology, or applied anthropology. To earn the minor, you must complete 22 credits from the following courses:
Explore creative writing in one or more of the following genres: poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction. In addition to broadening your writing repertoire, gain workshop experience at an advanced level. To earn this minor, you must complete a minimum of 21 credits in courses with E or CO subject codes, with at least 15 upper-division credits.
The Minor in Design Thinking provides students with an opportunity to develop creative methods and processes for solving societal problems. This human-centered approach engages users and stakeholders in interdisciplinary co-design processes and applies elementary or emerging technologies to develop prototypes that improve spaces, objects, services, problems and ideas benefitting daily experiences and overall quality of life. Students will gain an awareness of the impact of design thinking and its application – to their major, discipline, or profession. Nancy Richardson Design Center course offerings are available in a mix of online, hybrid, or face-to-face. For a full list of learning opportunities offered by the RDC, please visit the courses page.
To earn the minor in Design Thinking online, you must complete 21 credits from the following courses:
Gain insight into current socioeconomic problems in the areas of resource allocation, inflation, unemployment, income distribution, environmental degradation, international trade, and monopoly power. This minor prepares you for careers in business management, teaching, government, banking, and public policy. To earn the minor, you must complete 21 credits from the following courses:
Prepare for a variety of careers in gerontology and develop an understanding of the biological, psychological, and social aspects of adult development and aging. This interdisciplinary minor prepares you to fill the need for well-trained professionals to support aging adults, and can be paired with any CSU major.
Prepare to meet today's pressing environmental challenges with this interdisciplinary minor offered by The School of Global Environmental Sustainability (SoGES). Explore innovative research to understand how to solve problems that arise between humans and the environment. To earn your minor, you must complete 21 credits (12 upper-division credits) from the following courses:
Expand the breadth of your knowledge by earning an undergraduate minor in history. Choose from a range of courses based on your interests. This minor may be particularly useful for students who plan to pursue careers in education, public service, government, museums and archives, law, and other professions that require skills in research, writing, and the analysis of information. To earn the history minor, you must complete 21 credits from the following courses. (Note: You must complete at least 12 upper-division credits and 9 lower-division credits).
Growing and managing plants requires you to understand the science and the business of cultivation, and this online bachelor's degree minor emphasizes both. To earn the horticulture minor, you must complete 21 credits from the following courses.
The Human Development and Family Studies minor provides students across all majors with an opportunity to select course work relevant to their career goals. Students will learn about human development at various stages of the lifespan, within the context of diverse families and social identities. This minor offers students the opportunity to expand their thinking about how relationships, family, culture, biological make-up, and environmental factors influence outcomes related to thinking skills, physical health, and social-emotional well-being across the life cycle. Students will gain an awareness of how to optimize their own and other's development in their careers and personal lives. The HDFS department is committed to promoting the success and well-being of students from heterogeneous backgrounds and experiences.
Effective Fall 2023
Students must satisfactorily complete the total credits required for the minor. Minors and interdisciplinary minors require 12 or more upper-division (300- & 400-level) credits. Additional courses may be required due to prerequisites.
Courses from this list may not double-count for the Gerontology Interdisciplinary Minor.
A minimum grade of C (2.000) is required in each course used to satisfy the requirements of the Minor in Human Development and Family Studies. Courses used as substitutions also require a minimum grade of C (2.000).
Develop an understanding and appreciation of diverse cultures and peoples with courses in international and global history, politics, languages and cultures, economics, and environmental issues. To earn this minor, you must complete 21 credits from the following courses:
This interdisciplinary minor is sponsored by departments in different colleges across CSU: Computer Information Systems, Computer Science, English and Journalism and Media Communication. The program is designed for students seeking a broad foundation in information technology, but not seeking to major in a specific information technology-related field. The program requires 21 credits and is open to students majoring in any field other than computer science, computer information systems, and electrical and computer engineering.
Understand the role and influence of mass media in American society and other cultures by studying media and film history, criticism, law, ethics, social effects, cultural consequences, and multicultural and international media issues. To earn the minor, you must complete 21 credits from the following courses:
Gain a foundation in political theory and prepare for careers in law, teaching in the social sciences, journalism, and public service. To earn the minor, you must complete 21 credits from the following courses:
The minor in Science Communication is designed to educate highly qualified communicators who have interests in specialized academic disciplines and career fields. Because science often involves complicated research and processes, communicating the results of that work requires special skills. This program is designed to prepare students for a wide range of niche career opportunities in media, corporate communication, science-related industries, and scientific environments.
Please connect with your assigned advisor to request to add a minor. Note that you must apply and be admitted to the University for a bachelor's degree program before you can add a minor to your student record. Once you are admitted, one or more minors may be added to your student record.
Open to all undergraduate students, the Certificate in Design Thinking will improve not only the way students learn and find solutions to problems in their current coursework, but will also help make students more employable with sought-after marketable skills. Students will gain an awareness of the impact of design thinking and its application – regardless of discipline, profession, or major. Nancy Richardson Design Center course offerings are available in a mix of online, hybrid, or face-to-face. For a full list of learning opportunities offered by the RDC, please visit the courses page.
To earn the certificate in Design Thinking online, you must complete 12 credits from the following courses:
The Certificate in Macroeconomics will educate students in the key ideas, tools, and policies of macroeconomics. Major ideas include the causes and consequences of economic growth, unemployment, inflation, and the changing distribution of income, both in the U.S. and internationally. Students will develop both theoretical and analytical skills that are highly valued by employers.
For students interested in working in animal science, veterinary medicine, or related fields, this certificate program teaches intermediate-level Spanish for use in agricultural and animal care settings. Learn to communicate in Spanish about livestock, equine, and small animal breeds, give directions for animal care and handling, issue instructions for safety and drug administration, and more.
Prepare for a career as a seed analyst with online courses in seed technology. These courses, led by Colorado State University and supported by three other major universities (Iowa State University, Virginia Tech, and the University of Kentucky) and the Crop Science Society of America, offer a comprehensive overview of seed analysis, a technical skill requiring patience, attention to detail, and a scientific understanding of seed biology. After completion, you will be prepared to complete the examinations to become a Registered Seed Technologist.
The following curriculum is intended to inform prospective students about the overall theme of the program and should not be used as an example program of study. Students need to consult their advisor to develop a degree completion plan based on the credits transferred into this program. Please request a Tentative Transfer Evaluation if you have questions about how your coursework will transfer into CSU.
Students are strongly encouraged to select AUCC courses in consultation with their academic advisor. The following courses are required as part of the 31 required AUCC credits for the horticulture degree.
Here are a few of the AUCC options required of this major:
Upper-Division Horticulture – select 15 credits Select any upper-division (300- to 400-level) HORT course not required or selected elsewhere in the program.
Upper-Division Agricultural Economics, Business, or Economics coursework– select 6 credits You will work with your advisor to select options for this coursework requirement.
Electives – around 14 credits
Students will work with their advisor to choose elective coursework to reach the minimum of 120 credits for a bachelor’s degree. Many transfer students will transfer in elective coursework that meets this requirement.
How to Apply
Application Deadlines
Fall semester
August 1
Spring semester
January 1
Summer semester
May 1
Start your application online and upload materials directly into the online system. You can save your progress and return any time.
Planning to transfer credits from another college or university? Please review our FAQ page, then complete a Tentative Transfer Evaluation Form to see how your prior credits may transfer.
Call or email our student success team to find out if the program is a good fit for your goals. Our coaches are available Monday-Friday to help you find the right program and navigate the application process.
Complete Colorado State University's online undergraduate application and pay any associated nonrefundable application processing fee (payable online) or waiver (if eligible).
Select "Horticulture—online degree program" when choosing major.
Online applications must be submitted before 5 p.m. (Mountain Time) on the deadline date. If you miss the application deadline, you may still register for courses to begin your program of study as a non-degree student. Students seeking Federal financial aid must be admitted prior to enrolling.