How it works
The Agricultural Sciences Academy, launched at HCC-Katy this fall, is a co-enrollment program that allows students to gain degrees in numerous agricultural-related subjects, said Mehmet Argin, dean of the Engineering Center of Excellence.
By co-enrolling in both colleges, full-time students can take agricultural science courses at HCC-Katy while taking core classes for the first two years, Argin said. Students can then transfer to SHSU to finish the remainder of their degree program at the School of Agricultural Sciences.
The overview
Argin said he believes there are multiple benefits to the program, including the reduced tuition and course costs as well as the Katy campus' accessibility for students in the Houston area with its proximity to I-10 and the Grand Parkway.
The Agricultural Sciences Academy can also provide students an opportunity to get stipends for internships or conferences within the field through grant funding, he said.
“By taking on Sam Houston State courses in the first two years, they get engaged early on in agricultural sciences professions and meet with professionals, meet with faculty [and] visitor speakers,” he said. “They’re actually getting prepared for the last two years of the program.”
Digging deeper
The program was created to meet the need within the agricultural sciences workforce, Argin said. Bachelor degree programs at SHSU range from agricultural business to animal science and plant and soil sciences, according to a news release from HCC.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, national job growth between 2023-33 for agricultural professions will vary, with the most job growth expected to be among engineers, teachers and scientists.
HCC officials want to invest in Houston's urban agriculture, the practice of farming in an urban area, with the Agricultural Sciences Academy, Argin said. He said this is important due to the prevalence of urban heat islands in the Houston area.
Heat islands are urban areas that experience higher temperatures due to infrastructure and buildings re-emitting the sun’s heat versus natural landscapes absorbing heat, according to a July 2021 study by Climate Central, a nonprofit news organization. Houston was ranked as having the fourth-highest heat intensity among other U.S. cities.
“The purpose of the center is to train and educate people in Houston to ... prevent heat islands going forward,” he said.
The cost
Argin said the Agricultural Sciences Academy is funded by a series of grants and donations, including:
- A four-year $992,000 grant the college received from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in September 2023
- A $365,000 endowment from the Itz family to build a greenhouse on the HCC-Katy campus
The HCC system will look to expand the academy to select campuses once the USDA grant expires in September 2027.
While only seven students enrolled in the first semester of the Agricultural Sciences Academy, Argin said he hopes the program will continue growing over the length of the four-year grant to financially sustain itself after.
What’s next
Ahead of the spring 2025 semester, HCC and SHSU officials will work with area school districts—such as Katy, Houston, Alief and Spring Branch ISDs—to create a pipeline between the school districts' agriculture programs and the co-enrollment program, Argin said.
