Degree/Certificate
Certificate
HEGIS Code
5402
SUNY Code
1736
Major Code
HORT
The Career
According to the latest research by the American Nursery and Landscape Association, U.S. households spent a record $28.9 billion on professional landscape/lawn care/tree care services; a $3 billion increase over the last year! Spending on landscape installation, construction and design accounted for the largest increases. The National Agricultural Statistics Service reports that New York is the sixth-largest producer of nursery and greenhouse crops in the nation. The field of horticulture is continuing to grow and offers numerous career opportunities both nationally and in New York.
The NCCC Approach
NCCC’s Horticulture program combines classroom, greenhouse and field instruction in a certification program not matched elsewhere in Western New York. The certificate program offers a selection of courses permitting the student to customize their education to best meet their career goals.
NCCC’s Horticulture program includes both theory and practical hands-on experience. Students will be introduced to the techniques and processes of the horticulture industry using various formats and professional tools. Class and lab field trips will introduce the student to various retail, service and/or production facilities with first-hand discussions with the owners, managers and operators of these businesses.
The Horticulture certificate also includes an introduction to small business management and first-hand experience by participating in an externship. This is designed to assist students in understanding and experiencing the scope of their field of choice.
Graduates from NCCC’s Horticulture program are prepared for employment as designers, technicians, managers and supervisors in nurseries, garden centers, greenhouses, parks, municipalities, wholesale production facilities and in private businesses and for four-year college degrees in related fields.
Admission
Students are admitted in September and January.
The Horticulture certificate is offered as a full-time or part-time program. Because of the sequencing of courses, it may take more than one academic year of full-time study if a student begins this program in a spring semester.
See Individual Studies for associate degree option.
Program Goals and Objectives
- To prepare students with the necessary qualifications for careers in the horticulture field.
- To provide a horticulture-based pathway for successful student transition to an Individual Studies AAS degree at NCCC.
Student Learning Outcomes
At the completion of the Horticulture certificate program, the student will:
- Describe the components and effects of environment, soils and fertilizers on plant materials.
- Describe the techniques required for proper care, selection, and installation of plant materials.
- Identify a number of horticultural artistic, functional, and historical elements and their relationship to the various concentrations in horticulture such as landscape and floral design.
- Identify specific horticulture career goals relative to their concentration of study.
- Demonstrate entrepreneurship skills used to start up a small business including budgeting and management practices.
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