Course Requirements
Graduate Certificate in Sustainability
Tuition and Fees:
Graduate tuition and fee information can be found here.
Course Requirements:
To be awarded the certificate, students must have a successful completion of the 22 specified graduate credits with a grade of B- or higher for each course used for the graduate certificate plus a cumulative PSU graduate GPA of 3.0 or higher (computed on all graduate credit taken at PSU) and a cumulative program GPA of 3.0 or higher (computed on all courses used for the Graduate Certificate).
Required core courses (15 credits): Please see the PSU Class Schedule for course details.
| Course Number | Course Name | Credits | Term Offered |
| ESR 588 | Environmental Sustainability | 4 | Fall |
| ECON 522 | Economics of Sustainability: Theory and Practice | 4 | Winter |
| SOC 588/688 | Social Sustainability: Theory and Practice | 4 | Spring |
| USP 588/688 | Sustainable Development Practices | 3 | Winter |
Electives (7-8 credits):
- Similar relevant discrete-numbered courses may be substituted for the elective courses with prior approval of the program Director.
- 510/610 numbered courses are considered "topic" courses, not discrete-numbered, and can't be used as electives.
- The term electives are offered varies per year, per department. Please check the PSU Class Schedule.
| Department | Course Number | Course Name | Credits |
| Economics | EC 532 | Environmental Economics | 4 |
| EC 533 | Natural Resource Economics | 4 | |
| EC 534 | Business Environmental Management Economics | 4 | |
| EC 543 | Global Environmental Economics | 4 | |
| EC 544 | Economics of Green Power | 4 | |
| Environmental Sciences and Management | ESR 528 | Urban Ecology | 4 |
| ESR 529 | Environmental Impact Assessment | 4 | |
| Geography | GEOG 542 | Sustainable Cities | 4 |
| GEOG 546 | Water Resource Management | 4 | |
| GEOG 547 | Urban Streams | 4 | |
| GEOG 548 | The Urban Forest | 4 | |
| History | HIST 540 | American Environmental History I | 4 |
| HIST 541 | American Environmental History II | 4 | |
| Master of International Management | MIM 511 | Global Business and Sustainability | 4 |
| MIM 521 | Sustainability Metrics in Business | 4 | |
| MIM 531 | Product Design and Stewardship for Sustainable Enterprises | 4 | |
| MIM 541 | Cross-Sector Partnerships for Sustainable Enterprises | 4 | |
| Public Administration | PA 564 | Current Issues in Environmental Policy and Administration | 3 |
| Sociology | SOC 565 | Environmental Sociology | 4 |
| Urban Studies and Planning | USP 577/677 | Urban Environmental Management | 3 |
| USP 581 | Environmental Psychology | 3 | |
| USP 590 | Green Economics and Sustainable Development | 3 |
Additional Approved Relevant Courses to Substitute as Electives (These courses are approved to use as electives):
| Department | Course Number | Course Name | Credits |
| Environmental Sciences | ESR 527 | Watershed Biogeochemistry | 4 |
| Educational Leadership and Policy | EPFA 517/617 | Ecological and Cultural Foundations of Learning | 4 |
| ELP 519 | Sustainability Education | 4 | |
| ELP 548 | Advanced Global Political Ecology | 4 | |
| ELP 550 | Advanced Leadership for Sustainability | 4 | |
| Management/School of Business | MGMT 507 | Carbon Markets and Corporate Strategy | 4 |
| Public Administration | PA 565 | Natural Resource Policy and Administration | 3 |
| Systems Science | SYSC 511 | Systems Theory | 4 |
| Urban Studies and Planning | USP 529 | Green Buildings I | 3 |
| USP 544 | Urban Transportation Planning | 3 | |
| USP 569 | Sustainable Cities & Regions | 3 |
