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Field scout education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a field scout. Field scouts usually study plant sciences, agricultural business, or agriculture. 62% of field scouts hold a bachelor's degree, and 19% hold an associate degree. We analyzed 255 real field scout resumes to see exactly what field scout education sections show.

The most common colleges for field scouts are the Purdue University and the Purdue University.

There are also many online field scout courses to help get the education required to be a field scout.

What education do you need to become a field scout?

What degree do you need to be a field scout?

The most common degree for field scouts is bachelor's degree, with 62% of field scouts earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are associate degree degree at 19% and associate degree degree at 12%.
  • Bachelor's, 62%
  • Associate, 19%
  • High School Diploma, 12%
  • Master's, 4%
  • Other Degrees, 3%

What should I major in to become a field scout?

You should major in plant sciences to become a field scout. 26% of field scouts major in plant sciences. Other common majors for a field scout include agricultural business and agriculture.

Most common colleges for field scouts

Field scouts often get their degrees at Purdue University, California State University - San Bernardino, and Illinois State University. Here are the most common colleges for field scouts in the US based on their resumes.
Field scout common collegePercentages
Purdue University14.29%
California State University - San Bernardino10.71%
Illinois State University7.14%
Western Washington University5.36%
Texas Tech University5.36%

Best majors for field scouts

RankMajorPercentages
1Plant Sciences26.0%
2Agricultural Business16.0%
3Agriculture7.0%
4Business6.0%
5Biology5.0%

Best colleges for field scouts

The best colleges for field scouts are Northwestern University, University of Southern California, and California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo.

A field scout with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for field scouts. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become field scouts.

1. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Minneapolis, MN • Private

In-state tuition

$14,760

Enrollment

31,451

2. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Champaign, IL • Private

In-state tuition

$15,094

Enrollment

32,974

3. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,381

Enrollment

34,564

4. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Enrollment

9,142

5. University of Wisconsin - Madison

Madison, WI • Private

In-state tuition

$10,555

Enrollment

30,360

6. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-state tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

7. Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$18,454

Enrollment

40,108

8. University of Maryland - College Park

College Park, MD • Private

In-state tuition

$10,595

Enrollment

30,184

9. University of Connecticut

Storrs, CT • Private

In-state tuition

$15,730

Enrollment

18,830

10. Clemson University

Clemson, SC • Private

In-state tuition

$15,374

Enrollment

19,564

20 best online courses for field scouts

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1. Plant Bioinformatics

coursera

The past 15 years have been exciting ones in plant biology. Hundreds of plant genomes have been sequenced, RNA-seq has enabled transcriptome-wide expression profiling, and a proliferation of "-seq"-based methods has permitted protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions to be determined cheaply and in a high-throughput manner. These data sets in turn allow us to generate hypotheses at the click of a mouse. For instance, knowing where and when a gene is expressed can help us narrow down the...

2. Plant Bioinformatics Capstone

coursera

The past 15 years have been exciting ones in plant biology. Hundreds of plant genomes have been sequenced, RNA-seq has enabled transcriptome-wide expression profiling, and a proliferation of "-seq"-based methods has permitted protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions to be determined cheaply and in a high-throughput manner. These data sets in turn allow us to generate hypotheses at the click of a mouse or tap of a finger. In Plant Bioinformatics on Coursera.org, we covered 33 plant-specific...

3. SAP Plant Maintenance(PM) Module Online Classes

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5. Understanding Plants - Part I: What a Plant Knows

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For centuries we have collectively marveled at plant diversity and form—from Charles Darwin’s early fascination with stems and flowers to Seymour Krelborn’s distorted doting in Little Shop of Horrors. This course intends to present an intriguing and scientifically valid look at how plants themselves experience the world—from the colors they see to the sensations they feel. Highlighting the latest research in genetics and more, we will delve into the inner lives of plants and draw parallels with...

6. PEST Analysis with Service Blueprints in Miro

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By the end of this project, you will be able to conduct a PEST analysis that considers all components of service to gain intelligence on how internal and external factors impact an organization’s performance. To conduct a PEST Analysis with Service Blueprints in Miro, you will gain hands-on experience examining political, economic, socio-cultural, and technological influences upon performance in the Miro online visual collaboration platform for teamwork. Note: This course works best for...

7. Complete Field Instrumentation Engineering Course

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Flow, Level, Temperature and Pressure Instrument - Selection, Sizing, Calculation and Detail Engineering...

8. Herbalism:: Growing Top Medicinal Plants Certificate

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Growing your own herbal medicine is easy and allows you to have quick access to medicinal plants when you need them...

9. Plant Bioinformatic Methods

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The past 15 years have been exciting ones in plant biology. Hundreds of plant genomes have been sequenced, RNA-seq has enabled transcriptome-wide expression profiling, and a proliferation of "-seq"-based methods has permitted protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions to be determined cheaply and in a high-throughput manner. These data sets in turn allow us to generate hypotheses at the click of a mouse or tap of a finger.The Plant Bioinformatics Specialization on Coursera introduces core...

10. Extracellular Vesicles in Health and Disease

coursera

This course aims to provide current understanding about extracellular vesicles (EVs) and their role in health and diseases. The EVs are known to be involved in cell to cell communication. Apart from maintaining normal cell physiology, EVs deliver messages that can drive or influence the progression of a disease. This course discusses recent advances made in the field to give an introduction on their function in health as well as in disease.This course includes four modules. Module 1 is an...

11. Herbalism:: Identify & Harvest Medicinal Plants Certificate

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Identify, harvest and use easy to find herbs from the wild that are commonly used in herbal, holistic, natural medicine...

12. Cook Real Food: How to Make Simple Plant-Based Meals

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Learn how to cook whole plant foods to make quick, easy, and healthy vegan meals for practical everyday eating...

13. Curanderismo: Traditional Healing Using Plants

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COURSE DESCRIPTION As one of four courses on Curanderismo, the art of Hispanic/Latino traditional medicine, this course focuses specifically on the use of plants in traditional healing. As an educational and cultural platform, this course will share the history, influences, and contributions of traditional medicine. Trained traditional healers will share their knowledge of the healing properties of plants commonly found in the Southwestern United States and Mexico through practical applications...

14. Using Custom Fields in Looker Explores

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This is a Google Cloud Self-Paced Lab. In this lab, you will learn how to utilize custom fields in Looker Explores queries. Looker provides the ability for non-developer users to create and utilize ad hoc fields for richer data analysis. This is done by creating custom measures, custom dimensions, table calculations and using custom groupings to narrow down data to match specific conditions. Using ad hoc fields gives non-developers the ability to create new fields, as opposed to regular fields,...

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Master SAP Finance and Controlling...

16. Herbalism:: Wild Edible Plants for High Nutrition

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Identify and forage common wild foods for exceptional nutrition. This is essential for holistic and natural medicine...

17. Electrodynamics: Electric and Magnetic Fields

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This course is a continuation of Electrodynamics: An Introduction and Electrodynamics: Analysis of Electric Fields. Here, we will introduce magnetostatics and relate it to the material we learned previously. In addition, we will cover the basics of the electromotive force and how it can be used to build different devices. Learners will • Be able to use solutions from electric fields and relate them to other subjects (heat transfer, diffusion, membrane modeling) • Understand Maxwell's equations...

18. Data Science for Health Research

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In Data Science for Health Research, learn to organize and visualize health data using statistical analysis in programs like R. Explore how to translate data, interpret statistical models, and predict outcomes to help make data-informed decisions within the public health field...

19. SAP Controlling

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20. Sports Turf Management: Best Practices

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The Sports Turf Management: Best Practices course will cover the construction, management, and challenges in maintaining athletic fields intended for football, soccer, and baseball. You will learn the fundamental management practices for maintaining athletic fields, such as fertilization, irrigation, mowing, and pest control. An overview of athletic field construction, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of native soil versus modified soil fields, will be provided. Lastly, you will...

Top 10 most affordable universities for field scouts

The most affordable schools for field scouts are University of Florida, california state university - bakersfield, and suny farmingdale.

If the best universities for field scouts are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for field scouts.

1. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,381

Cost of attendance

21,034

2. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Cost of attendance

16,714

3. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,306

Cost of attendance

16,091

4. Baruch College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,262

Cost of attendance

14,046

5. Brooklyn College of the City University of New York

Brooklyn, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,240

Cost of attendance

13,991

6. University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez

Mayaguez, PR • Private

In-state tuition

$4,094

Cost of attendance

14,302

7. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

8. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,798

Cost of attendance

18,306

9. California State University - Fresno

Fresno, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,587

Cost of attendance

16,915

10. California State University - Dominguez Hills

Carson, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,942

Cost of attendance

14,469

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for field scouts

The hardest universities for field scouts to get into are Northwestern University, University of Southern California, and California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo.

Some great schools for field scouts are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for field scouts based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,508

2. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

13%

SAT average

1,445

3. California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo

San Luis Obispo, CA • Private

Admissions rate

30%

SAT average

1,339

4. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,492

5. George Washington University, The

Washington, DC • Private

Admissions rate

42%

SAT average

1,380

6. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

22%

SAT average

1,420

7. University of Maryland - College Park

College Park, MD • Private

Admissions rate

47%

SAT average

1,390

8. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

6%

SAT average

1,512

9. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

Admissions rate

39%

SAT average

1,362

10. University of Virginia

Charlottesville, VA • Private

Admissions rate

26%

SAT average

1,427

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for field scouts

The easiest schools for field scouts to get into are Wayland Baptist University, barry university, and felician university.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a field scout without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for field scouts.

1. Wayland Baptist University

Plainview, TX • Private

Admissions rate

98%

SAT average

1,003

2. Barry University

Miami, FL • Private

Admissions rate

91%

SAT average

1,006

3. Felician University

Lodi, NJ • Private

Admissions rate

81%

SAT average

999

4. Holy Names University

Oakland, CA • Private

Admissions rate

70%

SAT average

849

5. Oklahoma Wesleyan University

Bartlesville, OK • Private

Admissions rate

68%

SAT average

964

6. Life University

Marietta, GA • Private

Admissions rate

94%

SAT average

979

7. Texas A&M University - Kingsville

Kingsville, TX • Private

Admissions rate

89%

SAT average

1,035

8. Ottawa University

Ottawa, KS • Private

Admissions rate

78%

SAT average

1,024

9. University of the Incarnate Word

San Antonio, TX • Private

Admissions rate

88%

SAT average

1,044

10. Holy Family University

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

72%

SAT average

1,017

Average field scout salary by education level

According to our data, field scouts with a Bachelor's degree earn the highest average salary, at $43,062 annually. Field scouts with a Master's degree earn an average annual salary of $42,741.
Field scout education levelField scout salary
Master's Degree$42,741
High School Diploma or Less$34,454
Bachelor's Degree$43,062
Some College/ Associate Degree$36,703

Field scout education FAQs

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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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