MASTER OF AGRICULTURE AND MASTER OF SCIENCE GRADUATES OF THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY 1974 - 1978: A FOLLOW-UP WITH COMPARISON OF SELECTED FACTORS

urpose. The primary purpose of this investigation was to determine if changes were warranted in the master of agriculture and master of science curricula at Texas A&M University in preparing graduates for careers. A secondary purpose was to compare selected factors to determine if one degree seemed to hold greater promise than the other for students undecided about which degree program to select. In order to achieve the foregoing purposes, the following objectives served as guidelines in the acquisition and analysis of data: (1) To determine and compare the persons and factors that influenced graduates to pursue the master of agriculture or master of science degree. (2) To determine and compare the attitudes of graduates concerning their respective degrees. (3) To determine and compare the career patterns of graduates. (4) To develop recommendations for the modification of the curricula of the two degree programs as needed.;Major Findings. The persons exerting the most influence upon graduates to earn a master's degree, in descending order, were professors, parents, professional colleagues, and spouse. The factor having the most influence on the graduates to earn a master's degree was their desire for further graduate education.;The most imortant factor in the former students' choice of the University was the "reputation of TAMU faculty. . . ." Master of agriculture respondents rated "TAMU's academic standards," "overall prestige of TAMU," "TAMU's agricultural facilities," and "field of interest available only at TAMU" significantly higher and "financial assistance, scholarship, or assistantship" significantly lower than did master of science alumni.;Master of agriculture respondents indicated that "the practicality of the master of agriculture degree program" was the most important factor in their decision to earn that degree instead of the degree of master of science. Former master of science students rated the factor "felt that master of science degree was a good route to further graduate education" as most important in the choice of their degree program.;Procedure. Data were obtained from questionnaires returned by 432 or 74.5 percent of the master's graduates of the College of Agriculture at Texas A&M University for the years 1974 through 1978. Analysis of variance and chi-square analyses were used to test null hypotheses at the .05 level of probability.;More than three-fourths of both groups of graduates indicated that they were satisfied with their choice of degree program and University. A majority of former master's students rated the quality, effectiveness, and benefit of their graduate program highly. There were no significant differences between the ratings of the two groups of respondents.;A majority of the master of agriculture graduates recommended increasing or adding courses in finance and a majority of master of science alumni recommended an increase or the addition of courses in computing science and technical writing.;Almost 92 percent of the former master of agriculture students had an internship as a part of their graduate program. A majority felt the internship was of much or great value to them. They received a mean number of .59 supervisory visits during the internship and generally felt they should have received at least one visit.;Almost two-thirds of both groups were employed in their field of graduate study or in a closely related field. The most frequent categories of employment were "professional agricultural specialist," "non-agricultural or non-natural resources occupation," and "natural resources occupation.".;The median starting salaries were:...