Graduate Programs

Graduate and professional certificates related to sustainability:

• Graduate Certificate in Sustainability
• Graduate Certificate in Urban Design
• Graduate Certificate in Transportation
• Graduate Certificate in Hydrology
• Graduate Certificate in Real Estate Development
• Professional Certificate: the Business of Craft Brewing 

Graduate sustainability programs are offered by the following departments and schools:

• School of the Environment
• Graduate School of Education
• Hatfield School of Government
• Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science
• Systems Science Graduate Program
• School of Business Administration
• Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning
• School of Community Health
• School of Social Work
• Department of Sociology

School of the Environment

• Master of Environmental Management—teaches students how to analyze and manage natural environments for human benefit and ecosystem health.
• Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences and Resources—a cooperative effort of all of the departments within the school, including Environmental Sciences and Management, Geography, Geology, the Institute for Natural Resources-Portland, and the USGS Oregon Water Science Center, as well as other departments at Portland State.

Graduate School of Education

• Leadership for Sustainability Education—The Educational Leadership and Policy Department (ELP) offers a Master of Science or Master of Arts in Education with a specialization in Leadership for Sustainability Education.

Hatfield School of Government

• Master of Public Administration—focuses on preparing students for administrative positions in governmental and nonprofit organizations.
  • Local Government Specialization—for students who are moving toward a career in local government administration.
  • Global Leadership & Management Specialization—uses multidisciplinary and multicultural lenses to provide students with an understanding of responsible leadership, and to prepare them for a career with an international nonprofit or governmental agency.
  • Natural Resources Policy and Administration Specialization—for students interested in environmental and natural resources policy and administration.
• Ph.D. in Public Affairs and Policy—curriculum draws on faculty expertise in public administration, political science, public policy, criminology, and law. The doctoral program provides students with flexible programs of study and opportunities for applied research and community engagement.  

Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science

• Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering—include options for a focus on Building Science with elective courses in heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), building energy modeling, and solar energy engineering.
• Master of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering—involves advanced courses in structural analysis and design, transportation engineering, water resources, environmental engineering, and geotechnical engineering, as well as science and mathematics.
• Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering—specialty areas include Building Science and Energy Eystems, Controls and Dynamics, Fluid Mechanics, Heat Transfer, Materials Science, and Mechanical Design.
• Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering—offers advanced courses in structural analysis and design, water resources and environmental engineering, transportation engineering, and geotechnical engineering. This program aims to educate technical experts to meet challenges related to enhancing infrastructure and the environment. 

Systems Science Graduate Program

• Master of Science in Systems Science—draws on the natural and social sciences, mathematics, computer science, and engineering to address complex problems in the public and private sectors.
• Ph.D. in Systems Science—encompasses both application and theory-oriented aspects of the field. Various departments across campus participate in the program.

School of Business Administration

• Master of Business Administration—combines a traditional MBA core with an intense focus on leadership, innovation, and sustainability.
• Master of International Management—solid MBA curriculum enhanced by cross-cultural communication, language training in Mandarin Chinese or Japanese, and Asian field study.

Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning

• Master of Urban Studies— explores problems associated with growing social and economic inequalities between different places and population groups within the metropolitan region, environmental problems related to the prevailing pattern of urbanization, and the lack of effective institutions of regional governance.
• Master of Urban and Regional Planning—focuses on the history and theory of planning as a field, plan implementation, analytical methods (including Geographic Information Systems [GIS]), and the dynamics of metropolitan development.
• Master of Real Estate Development—a joint program with the School of Business that offers a multidisciplinary approach to real estate development that aims to create sustainable, healthy communities.
• Ph.D. in Urban Studies—revolves around understanding metropolitan regions and their problems, and analyzing policies to shape their evolution and overcome growing social and economic inequalities, environmental problems, and the lack of effective institutions of regional governance.
• Ph.D. in Urban Studies: Regional Science—brings a variety of social science perspectives to bear in analyzing the growth and development of metropolitan areas, states, and regions.

School of Community Health

• Master of Public Health—offered as part of the Oregon Master of Public Health program in conjunction with Oregon Health & Science University and Oregon State University, areas of emphasis include advocacy and social change, aging, health behavior, integrative health, physical activity and risk reduction, and women's health.

School of Social Work

• Master of Social Work—offers concentrations in direct human services, community-based practice, or social service administration and leadership, as well as the opportunity for an International Peace Corp specialization.
• Ph.D. in Social Work and Social Research—tackles critical social welfare problems through research and policy analysis related to finding solutions for these problems.

Department of Sociology

• Master of Art in Sociology—offers research specialization of topics such as criminology, stratification, globalization, medical sociology, neighborhood gentrification, education, religion, and gender and race relations.
• Ph.D. in Health and Social Inequality—address some of the most pressing public concerns including access to health care, new immigrants and barriers to their assimilation, neighborhood-level race relations, educational attainment for first-generation college students, and social and environmental sustainability.