Community Agriculture

Academic Eligibility

First-year students: To be eligible for admission, freshman students must have met/be on track to meet all upper/senior secondary school requirements with the equivalent of a 2.5 GPA to be automatically considered for admission to undergraduate programs.

Transfer students: Transfer students must have graduated from secondary school and completed at least 12 university-level credits (1 semester) with the equivalent of a 2.0 GPA.

UM Undergraduate Admissions uses a 4.0 unweighted scale to determine GPA. If your school does not calculate GPA, we will calculate it for you when we evaluate your academic records. 

Documents for Admission

Secondary school students/graduates: Please submit academic transcripts/mark sheets for grades 9-12 and secondary school leaving certificates, exam results or diplomas showing secondary school completion (if applicable)

Students who have completed at least one semester (12 U.S. credits) of university or post-secondary study: university transcript/mark sheets/exam results listing all courses, grades and credits/hours and diplomas/graduation certificates (if applicable). Students who qualify for transfer do not need to submit secondary school documents.

English translations: All documents not originally issued in English must also be accompanied by word-for-word English translations. You, the applicant, can make the translations yourself.

Admission consideration for international applicants can proceed with unofficial documents. Unofficial documents are photocopies or scans of original academic documents submitted to University of Montana directly by you, the student. Unofficial documents can be uploaded to your admission portal.

Internship and service learning in the environmental studies degree

Environmental studies students intern with a variety of governmental offices, nonprofits and businesses in Missoula and around the state.

For instance, through the PEAS (Program in Ecological Agriculture and Sustainability) Farm supervised internship, students get their hands dirty in every facet of UM's 10-acre PEAS farm, sowing seeds, transplanting and harvesting all while learning about community-based agriculture. Students grow 15,000 pounds of food each year for Missoula Food Bank and the farm's community-supported agriculture program. Students also host hundreds of local children at the farm through a practicum class.

In our native plant and ethnobotany supervised internship, students gain hands-on experience with about native plant gardens, invasive species, restoring natural areas and ethnobotany of Native peoples while working in native plant gardens on campus and around Missoula.

The MontPIRG (Montana Public Interest Research Group) internship provides students with the tools to foster positive social environmental change through community organizing and activism. Interns gain valuable civic engagement and leadership skills.

Career development in the environmental studies major

Environmental studies creates thinkers who can do and doers who can think. Notable alumni include a current state legislator, the founder and director of the nonprofit Indigenous Vision, two Missoula County commissioners, the superintendent of Glacier National Park, and the in-house botanical illustrator for the U.S. Botanic Garden.

The program imparts knowledge, skills, perspectives and practical experiences that allow students to understand and work effectively on environmental problems in various sectors, including nonprofits, government and business.

Networking and professional development in the environmental studies program

Environmental studies strongly encourages students to work together and with the community. Many serve on the Kless Sustainability Fund, which funds student-initiated climate and clean energy projects on campus. Students organize a variety of Earth Week activities.  The program also offers a Sustainability Careers course where students hear about the career paths of our many successful alumni.

Many environmental studies students are involved in UM's student government, known as the Associated Students of UM – or ASUM. Elected as senators or to the ASUM cabinet, our students build leadership skills and bring change to campus and the greater Missoula community.

Clubs and student organizations for environmental studies majors

The UM Forum for Living with Appropriate Technology (FLAT), a student-run residential community next to campus, is dedicated to everyday sustainability in urban settings. Environmental studies majors carry out sustainability projects on the FLAT site and conduct community sustainability education and outreach.

Students also participate in such environmentally focused student groups as the ASUM Sustainability Center, and the UM Climate Response Club, which engages and mobilizes the campus community to combat the climate crisis.

1. Complete an online application
2. Pay the application fee
3. Submit required application documents

• English language proficiency requirements
• Academic records
• Financial information
• Copy of passport
• Transfer form (for transfer students only) 

You can also download our International Admissions Checklist to help you submit all required materials.