Twenty-five years ago, North Carolina A&T brought knowledge out of the classroom and into laptops, tablets and anywhere internet access allowed with two online degrees, each centered on agricultural education, the university's oldest degree program.
This year, the agricultural education program celebrates its silver anniversary in both undergraduate and graduate online instruction with the Online Agricultural Education B.S. 2+2 Program and the Online M.S. in Agricultural Education.
The two programs, in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, were developed in 2000 by A&T-student-turned-professor Antoine Alston, who had recently earned his doctorate degree from Iowa State University.
“When I came back to A&T (in 2000), one of the things I wanted to focus on was to expand and launch our online programs into agricultural education. Of all our programs, we felt that ag education was the one program where we could make inroads with distance learning,” said Alston, associate dean of academic in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. “In the early 2000s, distance learning was really a novelty, and the internet was starting to kick in even more.”
As a 2+2 course, the online bachelor’s program is designed to allow individuals with two-year degrees from select institutions to transfer their associate‘s degree in an agricultural related discipline. According to Alston, since its launch in the 2001-2002 academic year, the program has built a partnership between the college and the Agricultural Institute at NC State University.
“With the 2+2 program being online, a lot of our students never see inside A&T,” said Chastity English, Ph.D., professor and program coordinator for agricultural education. “They’re working professionals, and they have a desire to complete a four-year degree and without this program, that wouldn’t be possible.”
Meanwhile, the Online Master of Science in Agricultural Education program offers concentrations in professional licensure and professional service.
“The master’s program, specifically the online version, was designed to address the need for ag teachers and Extension agents to get their credentials for career advancement and help boost compensation,” said Alston.
From an enrollment perspective, 433 students have graduated from the 2+2 Program while 491 graduated from the online master's program since each program’s launch in 2001, according to Alston.
Kenrett Jefferson-Moore, Ph.D., professor and chair in the Department of Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education, said enrollment increased in the master’s program over the last seven years due to both advancements in technology and the COVID pandemic.
“COVID allowed us to better serve our students because the university invested in technologies and tools that we needed across the board,” said Jefferson-Moore. “When the entire university had to pivot to online learning, the program became even more intensive, student-focused and allowed us to provide a more holistic quality for what students would look for in online learning.”
As a second-generation alum of the college, Alston said the programs also build upon an even deeper academic legacy: agricultural education represents the university’s oldest academic discipline. The original Bachelor of Science in Agriculture evolved into what became the B.S. in Agricultural Education, while the M.S. in Agricultural Education, established in 1939, was N.C. A&T’s first graduate degree program.
“Twenty-five years ago, these programs demonstrated what was possible when North Carolina A&T combined innovation with its commitment to access,” said Regina Williams Davis, Ph.D., assistant vice provost for the Extended Campus. “Agricultural Education helped establish a foundation for online learning at our university, creating pathways for students whose careers, families or locations may have otherwise placed a degree beyond their reach.”
Jermo Reese, president of equine non-profit Frankie's Corner Little Thoroughbred Crusade in Lexington, Kentucky, is a former student of the 2+2 online program. Reese, who enrolled in 2024, credited Alston for guiding him to enroll through a conversation at a MANRRS (Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences) conference in Kentucky.
“I was a MANRRS advisor at the University of Kentucky, and I was transitioning to Michigan State and had just started switching careers,” said Reese. “Dr. Alston was at the conference and asked me about my journey. He said that A&T had a program that would benefit me, since I was already an equine educator that did not have a degree in the agricultural sector. Very soon after the conference, I was signed up for classes.”
Brandi Harvey, a chemistry and forensics teacher in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, received her B.S and M.S. degrees in agricultural education through the 2+2 and online master’s program in 2022 and 2024 respectively. As a mother and a prior 2004 graduate of Tuskegee University, Harvey spoke to the advantages of receiving both degrees online.
“I was so elated and even felt blessed to be a part of this program and be a successful person at what I do because of the program,” said Harvey. “I think the faculty alone were amazing, as if I were there in person with them with how available they were to me, how they were one phone call away, one email away, one Zoom away.”
“What began 25 years ago as an effort to take agricultural education beyond the boundaries of campus has become an enduring legacy, proof that when access and innovation come together, the reach of education is limited not by geography, but only by what we dare to imagine,” Alston said.
