Carver transfers to Iowa State Agricultural College (now Iowa State University) to study botany. This marks a pivotal moment, shifting his focus from art to the sciences, specifically agriculture.

Carver earns his Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural science from Iowa State. He is the first African American to graduate from the institution.

He remains at Iowa State as a graduate student and assistant in botany, conducting research in the college's greenhouse. His work focuses on plant pathology and mycology, specifically diseases affecting agricultural crops. He earns his Master of Science degree in 1896.

Booker T. Washington invites Carver to join the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama as the Director of the Agricultural Department. Carver accepts the position, recognizing the opportunity to serve the Black farming community of the South.