I'd suggest that you look to the universities which are located in the top nursery production states. All of them would be superior and most of them have terrific reputations 'in the field'.

Take a look at Ohio, Florida, California, New York, and Virginia just for example. All of them produce graduates that feed into huge nursery industries within their state and the country. But there are other universities with outstanding reputations, too.

As a Va. Tech graduate, I cannot speak highly enough of that horticulture program, of course!! ;-)

willie, I have never seen comparisons or rankings of hort schools and programs.

However, most states have a decent program, and in a field where experience can count more than education, being in "the best" program doesn't mean what it would in law, engineering, or medicine.

That being said, Cornell and UC Davis have highly regarded programs.

But also, schools that have programs that are considered quite good: Iowa State, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Purdue, Ohio State, Kansas State...and the list goes on and on. I'd even go so far as to say that the South Dakota State program is pretty good.

My number one requirement for a program would be for it to require an internship. Goes back to that experience thing.

If you want a better comprehension of the quality of the program, ask to talk to grad students or upper level students in other programs of the college (usually college of ag, although sometimes it has different names). Get a sense of the reputation of the kids that are in the hort program. I know a couple of schools (none mentioned so far in this thread) where the reputaion of the hort program is of pot smoking underacheivers...which I would assume is not what you are looking for if you are asking for the best program.

Whatever school you go to, check to see if they participate in the regional meetings of the National Collegiate Hort. Society. Go to them, and present at these meetings. It looks really good on a resume.

I attended a midwest school with a hort program, and when we went to the regional meetings (MACHS, Midwest Affiliate of the Collegiate Hort Society), only a very few people presented, either a poster or an oral presention. As in about two people in either category, or in a very competitive year, three. So the worst you could do would be to place third in a public presentation at a regional conference. Very impressive. What does it mean? Who cares, it's impressive.

In the end, believe it or not, the quality of the program matters little. It's what you take with you that really matters. Passion, desire, and individual determination will make a much bigger impact upon what kind of education you take out than the quality of the program.

Now if you want grad school, I'd go so far as to say UC Davis and Cornell and a stint at the Arnold Arboretum are going to be tops.

Once, years ago, I did a little illustration using various trage journals. I went to the back section, the classifieds, and highlighted the words education in blue and experience in yellow. I found a ratio of over 8 to 3 experience to education, and every time education was sought, so was experience. My point is, don't forego experience in you rquest for education. Seek both simultaneously. And don't forget what is going to make you employably attractive in this field.

You might look for universities rather than school. You can easily find best universities online or may go through in your area i would like to prefer Ohio and California university they will provide you authentic knowledge about growing and management.

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