Addressing the world’s toughest challenges—from poverty to climate change to urban development—requires unprecedented collaboration and knowledge from every field. This is sustainability.
Our Graduate Certificate in Sustainability will provide you with an in-depth understanding of the connections between social, environmental, and economic systems, and arms them with the knowledge to apply sustainable, integrated problem-solving approaches in their lives and careers.
This graduate certificate, offered in collaboration with 14 participating departments and schools on campus, is open to students from all areas of study and professional backgrounds. It is available as an add-on to a master’s or doctoral degree program at PSU or as a stand-alone program for professionals and college graduates who want to better understand sustainability issues. Our graduates go on to pursue careers in a variety of fields, including engineering, urban planning, communications, and business.
Our current students join the program from academia, from midway in their career, or from careers that they are looking to switch out of for a field they are more passionate about.
Portland State is a leader in sustainability in one of the greenest cities in the United States. Come and learn from the experts in this field! Our unique certificate employs an interdisciplinary design and is built on the following core classes:
- environmental science
- economics
- sociology
- urban planning
Students may also choose from electives from many different fields and areas.
Courses in the certificate can double as graduate degree program requirements for master’s and doctoral students. The certificate is a stand-alone program for professionals and college graduates who want to know more about sustainability challenges.
We invite students and professionals from all disciplines and careers who are interested in embarking, or furthering, a career in sustainability to apply.
The certificate can be used by mid-career professionals who want to move inside their organizations or who want to explore jobs in various fields of sustainability (whether in the nonprofit, governmental, or private sector); by those seeking a path to a regular, related master’s degree at PSU; by college graduate and mid-career professionals who want to learn new tools and applications to complement their existing education and experience by taking classes and working on targeted projects to help reach that goal; by PSU students who enroll in this graduate certificate to add it to their current degree to supplement their degree and widen their job possibilities; and by other PSU students to learn more about sustainability and go onto a Ph.D.