AGRICULTURE SCIENCE ACADEMY
College credits earned: up to 9.0 (varies by program location)
Why College Credit in High School?
… Find your passion
… Get a head start
… Experience college-level expectations
with rock star teachers
… Earn free college credit
… Why not!
Experience
Passion for strong agriculture driven skills with
stimulating exposure to the broad selection of
careers in the field help academy students connect
with information gathering through class lectures,
discussions, and hands-on activities.
Outcome
Kirkwood agricultural classes prepare students for
exciting diversity: from animal or crop production
work on the family farm to wildlife management as a
park ranger. The second largest two-year agriculture
department in the nation prepares you for immediate
employment or serves as an early start for advanced
degree programs in agriculture.
Career Focus
Students explore options for careers in agriculturerelated business, in fields such as floriculture, small
animal services, or nursery garden centers, feed,
seed, and fertilizer/chemical businesses and equine
management. Class tours and internships create side
by side work with leaders in the industry.
The Kirkwood Agriculture Science Academy provides
students with a jump start to earning an associates, bachelors
and/or graduate degree. If you’re planning to transfer to a
four-year college or university after attending Kirkwood,
specific transfer information can be found at the following link:
www.kirkwood.edu/fouryeartransfer
Iowa Average Salaries in Agriculture Science Careers
Farm Production: $12.40
Agriculture Equipment Operators: $15.01
Animal Breeders: $13.96
Farm Workers and Laborers: $12.38
Agriculture Inspectors: $20.82
Forest and Conservation Workers: $15.70
First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing,
and Forestry Workers: $24.73
More info can be found at: www.bls.gov
College credit courses included in this academy experience:
AGA-114 Principles of Agronomy
3 college credits
Presents instruction in a crop plant classification, use and
identification. Also covers cropping systems, tillage methods,
planting and harvesting methods, and crop growth patterns. A
balance of theoretical and practical crop science.
AGP-333 Precision Farming Systems
3 college credits
Provides a background in the tools of precision farming, GPS,
GIS and VRT. Introductory use of each of these tools in a
precision farming system and how they are applied on the farm
are covered. Hands-on activities with local data will provide a
practical experience in the use of these tools.
AGS-113 Survey of the Animal Industry
3 college credits
Breeds, basic management and marketing of farm animals.
Composition, evaluation and marketing of animal products.
Includes live animal demonstrations with cattle for meat and
milk, horses, poultry, sheep and swine.
Need to Know…
• Courses offered by trained, credentialed high school and
college faculty.
• Students enrolled will receive credit from their high school and
college credit from Kirkwood. The college tuition is paid for by
your high school district.
• The grade earned in this course will be reflected on the
student’s official college transcript. Students not planning to
attend Kirkwood after high school graduation should plan to
include this transcript as part of your application process to
other colleges or universities. www.kirkwood.edu/transcript
• As part of earning college credit for this academy, students
must complete an online application to Kirkwood Community
College, and must provide a social security number as part
of the secure online college application process to create the
official student record.
Program Details …
• Course offerings vary by location.
• Check with your guidance counselor to see if the Agriculture
Academy is at a location near you.
How to Get Started …
• Talk to your parents and your guidance counselor.
• Go to www.kirkwood.edu/apply and click “Earn College Credit
in High School.”
KIRKWOOD COMMUNITY COLLEGE
1