If you looked only at undergraduate enrollment numbers, you might underestimate the reach of Oregon State University’s turfgrass program.
In a typical year, the number of undergraduate students focusing specifically on turf management hovers around ten.
Ten students.
For a field that supports golf courses, sports stadiums, municipal parks, landscaping companies, irrigation systems, and licensed pesticide applicators across multiple states, that number tells only part of the story.
Because outside the traditional degree pathway, something much larger is happening.
Through PACE, the turfgrass faculty are reaching more than 150 unique learners in a single year.
Since launching the program, the growth has been steady and significant.
Annual enrollments increased from just 12 learners in 2020 to more than 130 in 2025, representing a tenfold expansion in reach. The turfgrass PACE courses have generated (in total) over 2,200 enrollments from 485 unique learners across the region.
Students in the Turfgrass Management Certificate include:
working professionals
superintendents
crew members
landscape contractors
irrigation specialists
young people exploring career options
What began as a focused academic program has grown into a regional workforce engine.
The key was not rewriting the degree.
It was expanding the doorway.
Undergraduate programs operate within (rightly warranted) tight structures.
Ten-week terms.
Credit limits.
Required courses.
Governance processes.
Accreditation standards.
That structure provides strong accredited rigor and stability. By its nature, it also limits how much detail can be covered in any one topic.
Faculty teaching turf management face a constant tradeoff.
As one instructor explained, the undergraduate curriculum is necessarily rigid. You only get so much exposure to specific topics like turf management before the term ends.
There is only so much time to cover within a single term:
irrigation
drainage
turf maintenance
pest management
disease identification
weed control
safety protocols
Yet industry expectations are not bound by academic calendars.
Golf course superintendents want employees who understand fungicides at a granular level. Landscape contractors need pesticide licensing knowledge. Sports field managers want specific irrigation troubleshooting expertise.
There is a gap between what can be covered in a traditional degree and what professionals need on the job.
PACE became the bridge.
The turfgrass PACE courses were not designed in isolation.
Industry partners approached faculty directly with a request.
They needed training that was accessible online, affordable, and efficient.
Their employees could not step away from work for extended periods. They needed something practical and credential-aligned. Faculty responded by building courses around real workforce needs.
The result was a portfolio that includes specialized offerings such as:
Enrollment patterns across the courses also reveal where industry demand is strongest.
Some of the courses have become foundational entry points for professionals entering the field:
Turfgrass Management (392 enrollments)
Introduction to Golf Course Management (343 enrollments)
And more specialized topics attract working professionals seeking targeted technical knowledge.:
Irrigation and Drainage (322 enrollments)
Pesticide Applicator Education and Safety (300 enrollments)
Some courses are streamlined versions of undergraduate material. Others contain content not present in the traditional curriculum at all.
Importantly, the program continues to evolve based on feedback.
Industry professionals routinely suggest additions or refinements. Faculty are now bringing in outside industry experts to help redevelop certain courses, keeping the material aligned with emerging practices.
PACE created a feedback loop that traditional academic structures rarely provide at scale.
The learners enrolling in turfgrass PACE courses are not all the same.
Many are mid-career professionals with families and full-time jobs. They cannot leave work to pursue a two- or four-year degree. They need targeted skills that fit into their existing lives.
PACE allows them to advance within their current roles.
Others are younger individuals fresh out of high school. Some are unsure whether college is the right fit. They may not be ready to commit financially or academically to a full degree program.
For them, PACE serves as a trial run.
They can commit a short amount of time and a reasonable financial investment to test whether turf management is a career they enjoy.
If it resonates, they can move into the full undergraduate program with greater confidence.
Faculty can already point to examples of learners who took PACE courses, discovered a passion for the field, and then enrolled in Oregon State’s undergraduate turf program.
THIS PATHWAY REDUCES RISK FOR THE LEARNER AND EXPANDS THE RECRUITMENT FUNNEL FOR THE UNIVERSITY.
The numbers tell a powerful story.
The enrollment growth is not only visible in headcounts. It is reflected in the program’s financial momentum as well.
Since launching through PACE, the turfgrass program has generated more than 2,200 course enrollments and over $744,000 in total program revenue.
Annual revenue has grown from just under $12,000 in the program’s early years to more than $256,000 in FY26 alone.
This level of sustained demand demonstrates that the courses are not simply educational offerings. They are meeting a real workforce need across the turf and landscape industries.
While the undergraduate turf focus includes roughly ten students in a given year, PACE enrollments exceed 150 unique individuals annually.
The trajectory tells the story clearly.
The program grew from 27 total annual enrollments in 2020 to more than 660 enrollments in 2025, reflecting rapid adoption by working professionals in the turf industry.
Think of that not as a certificate program, but as a collective student body.
Through PACE, the turfgrass faculty have expanded their reach more than tenfold.
The geographic footprint is equally impressive. PACE learners now participate from across the western United States, including Oregon, Washington, Northern California, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, reflecting the program’s growing reputation across regional turf and landscape industries.
At national and regional conferences, faculty regularly encounter PACE students in person.
Professionals approach them on trade show floors and after seminars to say they took the courses and that the material impacted their careers.
For instructors who primarily teach through online platforms and see only names on a screen, these encounters are meaningful. They are evidence that the work is translating into real-world advancement.
The visibility has also benefited the department.
As industry professionals engage with PACE courses, they become more aware of the broader research and academic work happening within Oregon State’s turf program.
PACE is not only expanding enrollment.
It is amplifying reputation.
A key reason for strong enrollment is alignment with professional credential requirements.
Many turfgrass and landscaping professionals must maintain licenses or earn continuing education credits through associations.
These include golf course superintendent associations, irrigation certification bodies, landscape contractor organizations, and other regional groups.
Employer support plays a significant role.
In many cases, golf courses and landscaping companies fund employee enrollment because the courses align directly with licensing requirements and continuing education credits.
The sustained enrollment levels have translated into more than $744,000 in cumulative program revenue, demonstrating the strength of this industry supported training ecosystem
PACE courses often qualify for these professional credits.
Students of the Turfgrass Management Certificate program get GCSAA credit towards a Golf Course Superintendents Association of America certification.
| Course Title | Course Hours | GCSAA Class A Credits |
| Introduction to Turfgrass Management | 30 | 3 |
| Introduction to Golf Course Management | 36 | 3.6 |
| Pesticide Applicator Education and Safety | 18 | 1.8 |
| Irrigation and Drainage | 21 | 2.1 |
| Cool-Season Turfgrass Diseases and Suppression Using Fungicides | 30 | 3 |
| Turfgrass Mathematics | 36 | 3.6 |
| Turfgrass Insects and Weed Management | 36 | 3.6 |
When faculty ask learners why they enrolled, the answer is frequently practical.
They need the credits to maintain their professional standing. They need specific knowledge to meet regulatory requirements.
Employers also recognize the value. In many cases, golf courses and landscaping companies partially or fully fund employee enrollment to promote from within.
This creates a powerful ecosystem:
Industry requests training.
Faculty build targeted courses.
Employees enroll with employer support.
Professional associations grant credit.
The loop reinforces itself.
The certificate pathway is also translating into meaningful learner progress. To date, 164 professionals have completed the Turfgrass Management Certificate, with more than 230 additional learners currently progressing through the course sequence.
Another unexpected benefit of the PACE platform is curricular experimentation.
Undergraduate enrollment in niche areas may be limited. It can be difficult to justify launching a new academic course without clear demand.
PACE provides a testing ground.
Because enrollment numbers are larger and learners are actively working in the field, feedback is abundant and grounded in practice.
Faculty can introduce emerging topics and gauge interest quickly.
One example under development is a social science and communication course tailored specifically to turf professionals. The class would focus on navigating conversations with golf course owners, greens committees, and other stakeholders. Communication and interpersonal dynamics are increasingly important in the industry, yet they are not traditionally emphasized in turf science coursework.
Launching such a course within PACE allows faculty to measure receptiveness before considering deeper integration into undergraduate offerings.
The platform functions as both delivery channel and innovation lab.
Learner behavior within the PACE program reveals an important trend.
Some students pursue the full certificate sequence. Others enroll in specific courses that align with immediate needs.
For example, many gravitate first toward turfgrass fundamentals or golf course maintenance. Courses that are perceived as less exciting, such as math-intensive components, are often taken later.
This pattern suggests a future built around modular pathways.
Faculty have discussed developing specialized tracks such as:
Under a more flexible model, learners could select courses aligned with their professional goals while still meeting minimum credit requirements.
PACE provides the infrastructure to support this kind of customization without restructuring degree requirements.
Undergraduate students often gravitate toward academic and science-based aspects of turf systems. They may be less interested in applied tasks such as pesticide licensing or plant system management with chemicals.
Industry professionals, however, require that knowledge to perform their jobs.
At one point, pesticide applicator training was offered as an undergraduate course but struggled with enrollment. The same content delivered through PACE meets strong demand because the audience differs.
This contrast highlights the value of having multiple educational pathways.
The undergraduate program can remain academically rigorous and research-focused.
PACE can address immediate workforce competencies.
Together, they form a complementary ecosystem.
From a faculty perspective, teaching through PACE offers distinct rewards.
At conferences, instructors frequently encounter former students who share stories of promotions, career shifts, and increased responsibility.
“Every conference I go to, there’s at least one PACE student who comes up and says, ‘I took your course and it had an impact on my life.’” ~ Chas Schmid
Some mention that completing the PACE program helped them secure supervisory roles or advance within their organization. Others describe feeling more confident in technical decision-making.
For faculty, these moments provide tangible evidence of impact.
It is one thing to see enrollment numbers grow. It is another to hear directly from professionals whose livelihoods have been shaped by the material.
The reach extends internationally as well. Faculty have reported meeting PACE learners at conferences beyond Oregon, reinforcing the program’s expanding influence.
The success of turfgrass PACE courses is now fueling expansion into related areas.
Faculty are developing landscaping-focused offerings that will complement existing turf courses.
These may include:
Many landscaping professionals face similar licensing and continuing education requirements. The demand dynamics mirror those seen in turfgrass.
By leveraging the existing PACE infrastructure, faculty can extend into adjacent markets without building entirely new delivery systems from scratch.
Growth in one area becomes the foundation for growth in another.
The turfgrass program’s experience with PACE reveals several lessons for faculty across disciplines.
There is often a larger audience for your expertise than your degree program alone captures.
Industry partnerships are most effective when industry helps shape the curriculum.
Flexible and modular delivery expands access without diluting rigor.
PACE can serve as both recruitment funnel and innovation platform.
Scale changes perception. Moving from ten students to more than 150 working professionals transforms a niche program into a visible workforce leader.
In just a few years, the turfgrass PACE portfolio has grown into a program that has generated more than $744,000 in training revenue while serving over 2,200 professional enrollments.
For faculty considering collaboration with Professional and Continuing Education, the turfgrass case illustrates what becomes possible when academic knowledge is paired with delivery infrastructure designed for reach.
It is not about replacing degrees.
It is about extending influence.
And in doing so, strengthening both industry and the university itself.