Graduate work leading to M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Genetics is administered by the faculty of participating departments. These departments are Agronomy; Animal Science and Industry; Biochemistry; Entomology; Horticulture, Forestry, and Recreation Resources; Plant Pathology; Veterinary Medicine; and the Division of Biology. 

The genetics program consists of 35 graduate faculty members and about 20 graduate students, in addition to visiting scientists, and postdoctoral fellows. All faculty members direct active research projects, and there is a high degree of interaction and cooperation among researchers in various areas of genetics.

Graduate students are expected to start research in their first year and will receive individual attention and guidance. The objective is to produce graduates with a broad training in genetics, who are able to conduct independent research programs that are creative and productive. 

The curriculum is broad, including plant, animal, physiological, molecular, microbial, fungal, yeast, population, quantitative and behavioral genetics, as well as cytogenetics, genetic engineering, and biotechnology in general. Students are expected to specialize in one of four areas of genetics for their advanced study: Molecular Cellular and Developmental Genetics; Genetics of Plant-Microbe Interactions; Arthropod Genetics; or Quantitative Genetics.

Original research is a requirement for study in the Genetics Graduate Program. The small size of the research labs, typically three to six students per lab, makes for close interaction within the group. Students are also encouraged to interact with other faculty and students in the program and in the member departments.