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2013 Horticultural Sciences Academic Program Review Section 3 Page 10
Hard money funded assistantships from internal institutional support remains at the same absolute dollar amount
in the TAMU Department of Horticultural Sciences as it was in 2002 at approximately $100,379 per year (Fig.
3.2). Applying the consumer price index calculations to the hard money graduate assistantship funds, this amount
has steadily eroded to an adjusted value of $78,653.
Compounding the eroding value of the funds is the need to increase stipend levels which has resulted in a loss of
about one-third of our previously available assistantship slots (Fig. 3.3). The only saving factor was the provision
of in-state tuition waivers for all internally funded Ph.D. and most internally-funded Masters students beginning
in 2005. Unfortunately, these in-state tuition waivers do not apply to students who are funded on external funds,
so this must be factored into grant requests, possibly decreasing the likelihood of the grant being funded.
Figure 3.3. Available teaching assistantships based on hard money budgeted funds divided by the mean minimum
assistantship stipend in effect at that date.
Course Requirements and Experiential Learning in Graduate Horticulture Degree or Concentration Programs
Total course and credit hour requirements were slightly greater at land grant institutions for horticulture
concentrations within a plant science program than in horticulture only degree programs, however minimum
research hours requirements were slightly greater in the Ph.D. in horticulture programs (Table 3.8). Ph.D.
programs at non-land grant schools required on average fewer total credit hours and fewer research/internship