The Excellence in Agricultural Finance (EIAF) undergraduate certificate program is a selective program that prepares students for a career in the diverse area of agricultural finance, including traditional banking and farm credit, crop insurance, commodity brokerage, commodity marketing/processing, and wealth management.
The EIAF program is designed to identify and match excellent students with an interest in finance and risk management with career opportunities through high-quality educational and experiential learning opportunities.
Program Requirements
For acceptance and continuing participation, students must maintain a 3.25 GPA throughout the program.
Students apply to the EIAF program at the end of their first year at TTU (or during their first year for transfer students). This is a competitive process based on student performance in courses, a statement of interest, and interviews with the EIAF advisory/faculty panel.
- Complete a two to three week shadowing exercise with an EIAF external partner during the first summer of the program. Upon successful completion of shadowing, students who meet all other program requirements may then formally apply to the EIAF program. Successful completion of that experience and a positive rating from the external partner are required to continue in that program.
- Complete an internship with an external partner, after program acceptance, in the general field of agricultural finance: banking, real estate, insurance, commodity trading, etc. This is a formal internship process whereby the student is expected to engage in the learning opportunity and define, in conjunction with the host firm, a project or professional experience. Students must submit a report based on that project to a faculty committee that will assess student performance with additional feedback from the host firm. The required internship for the Rawls Excellence in Banking program will satisfy the EIAF internship requirement for students concurrently completing both programs.
- Complete a set of required online short modules to ensure that students have the necessary background in basic agricultural issues.
- Participate in EIAF seminars, conferences, and other activities.
- Each student who completes the above requirements will register for an AAEC 4301 course during their final semester to receive a grade for the content learned in the above based on the assessments for each activity. This course will count for one of the required electives in their degree program. Admission to this course and a grade will be only for students who complete these requirements and the courses below to receive their certificate.
Required Program Courses*
* Courses must be completed with a grade of B- or better.
Students are also encouraged to incorporate AAEC 4315 , as well as Business Law (BLAW 3391 ), Agricultural Law (AAEC 4320 ), or Real Estate Law (FIN 3393 ).
The EIAF program has scholarships available to accepted students on a competitive basis.
Agribusiness and AAEC dual degree majors can also earn a certificate in Excellence in Banking and/or Commercial Real Estate from the Rawls College of Business.
Note: AAEC majors are eligible to complete the EIAF certificate but are not currently eligible to complete the other certificate programs in the Rawls College of Business.
