At the beginning of the fall 2026 semester, Monmouth College announced it was expanding its academic offerings to meet student interests and workforce needs, especially in the local community.
“At Monmouth College, we’ve always believed over the last almost 175 years that an important part of our role is to strengthen the community, and that’s why we’re excited to announce that we are starting a new agribusiness management program and finance program. Two programs, you know, really focus on the strengths of this community.”
Monmouth College President Dr. Patricia Draves spoke about this opportunity at the WRAM Farmers Breakfast, highlighting the importance of agriculture as an economic driver in the region.
“There’s a talent shortage as well in people that understand agriculture and the intersection with business, and we’re hoping to meet that gap for our community,” said President Draves.
The new agribusiness program is also designed to help students navigate an increasingly consolidated business landscape, said retired Monmouth College economics professor Ken McMillan.
“There is a greater need for—for we’ve got the technical specialists, we’ve got a lot of technical skill out there, but somebody needs to be able to run the business end of that operation,” said McMillan.
He added that west-central Illinois is underserved when it comes to educational institutions offering this type of program.
“If you go to Bloomington—you have to go all the way to Platteville, where there is an agribusiness management degree,” said McMillan. “That’s one of the things that has been behind our development of this agribusiness management major at Monmouth College.”
Monmouth College will welcome its first students into the agribusiness management and finance programs in the fall 2027 semester.
