A big jump in enrolment in the University of Manitoba’s agriculture program is being credited to a solid recruitment effort and a strong agricultural sector.
The university’s faculty of agricultural and food sciences is reporting a 24 percent increase over last year of students enrolled in its degree program.
“We’ve been steadily going up over the last decade, but we’ve had very large jumps in the last two years,” said Brian Amiro, associate dean (academic) for the faculty.
The university’s undergraduate program includes a bachelor of science and diploma programs with more than 600 students.
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Enrolment in the diploma in agriculture program is also up, reports the university.
When covering graduate and agriculture-related programs, enrolment grows to more than 900 students, said Amiro.
“Our jump this year again was a little larger than we might have thought otherwise, but that’s just from a diversity of sources those students are coming from,” said Amiro.
Within the diploma program, Amiro said most students are coming from a farm background. Students pursuing the bachelor of science have more diverse backgrounds.
Some are coming from farms, but there are larger percentages of urban and international students.
“The agricultural industry and the Prairies in general has been very strong. That’s been going on for quite a while, but especially lately,” said Amiro. “Students are realizing that getting an education in agricultural and food science is a great opportunity for a career.”
