PSU's certificate in Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language (TJFL) prepares you to use your skills at home or abroad, teaching Japanese to speakers of other languages. This program is designed to familiarize participants with principles of instructional methods in teaching Japanese to speakers of languages whose orthography is not kanji-based. It is designed to fit into the programs of majors in a wide variety of fields, including Japanese, education, linguistics, and the social sciences. Candidates may enroll as post-baccalaureate students or while completing undergraduate degree requirements in another field.

The certificate is easily obtainable while completing degree requirements in Japanese or related language or linguistics programs.

Japanese proficiency at the ACTFL Intermediate High level is required for admission to this certificate program. Students whose proficiency is lower may be provisionally admitted; they will need to study Japanese while taking other courses in the certificate program.

Systems Science is the study of general principles governing systems of widely differing types, and the use of systems ideas and methods in research and socio-technical system design and management. Systems science draws on the natural and social sciences, mathematics, computer science, and engineering to address complex problems in the public and private sectors.

Systems ideas and methods offer valuable insights into and fundamental ways to think about a wide range of phenomena. They will help you to better understand and address problems in such diverse areas as climate change, resource use, renewable energy, and public health and biomedicine, and shed new light on the challenges and opportunities of new technologies.

The systems minor offers coursework in methods for approaching complex systems including opportunities to design conceptual models using graphical understanding, computational models to simulate system behaviors, dynamics of biological or ecological systems, the evolution of cooperation, and networks in society.

Learning systems ideas and methods will enhance the knowledge and skills you gain in any specific program, making the minor a perfect complement to any major. Our systems minor has been designed to be entirely cross-disciplinary, meaning engineering or biology majors can take systems just as comfortably as a philosophy or geography major. The classes can also help you fulfill requirements for a number of core curriculum courses.

Immerse yourself in the language and culture of ancient Rome with a minor in Classical Studies, and gain new insights into how this major world culture continues to influences modern society.

For nearly two millennia, much of European literature, scholarship, diplomacy, and even aspects of everyday life, have found expression in Latin. Minoring in classical studies will give you language and writing skills that will make learning any other language easier.

The minor pairs well with a degree in history, English, philosophy, and art history, as it gives you a foundation in understanding the writings and thoughts of creators from centuries past in their original language.

The Fall 2026 application is now open. Scholarships are still available, including the new Business for Good Scholarship.

The Portland MBA at Portland State University prepares purpose-driven leaders to drive positive change in business and society. Reflecting Portland’s values—creative problem-solving, community impact, and environmental responsibility—our program combines core business skills with sustainable practices, inclusive leadership, and ethical decision-making. We are also developing a new elective focused on the strategic use and implementation of AI to ensure students are ready for the rapidly evolving future of work.

Designed for both working professionals and full-time students, the program offers evening, daytime, and fully online formats. Students join a selective, diverse cohort on Oregon’s most diverse campus and benefit from strong connections to local industry leaders, startups, and nonprofit organizations—gaining an immersive experience grounded in real-world challenges and career advancement.

The Portland MBA: Two Modalities, Two Paths

At Portland State University, The Portland MBA offers flexibility that aligns with your professional life. Whether you learn best through in-person collaboration or the freedom of remote study, we have a path for you. All MBA students have access to executive presence training, networking events, and the full PSU campus ecosystem.

1. The On-Campus Experience
For those who thrive in face-to-face environments and want to build a local professional network.

2. The Online Experience (Your pace. Your place.)
For those who need total control over their schedule.

• Format: Asynchronous, flexible, and accessible from anywhere.
• The Path: Designed with the flexibility of a part-time model, allowing you to balance work and life while accessing the exact same core curriculum as our in-person cohorts. (Accelerated Full-Time schedules will be available starting in Fall 2026).
• Specialization: Includes targeted electives in Global Supply Chain, Enterprise Analytics, and Social Innovation. 

Choose to study Russian and you will learn to communicate in a language spoken by over 200 million people in Russia and across Eurasia. From being able to read Dostoevsky in the original to discussing in Russian the politics and environment in Russia and Central Asia, you will gain insights into the rich history and vibrant cultures of the Russian-speaking world.

Participating in PSU's dynamic Russian program, you'll have opportunities to immerse yourself in Russian-speaking communities here in Oregon, where Russian is the third most widely spoken language.

Whether you want to study the Russian language and culture to get in touch with your family's heritage, immerse yourself in Russian culture and arts, or prepare for a career in government or international diplomacy, business, or technology, a bachelor's degree in Russian from Portland State will help you build professional proficiency in the language and gain experience in cross-cultural communication. A bachelor's degree in Russian from Portland State University prepares you for a variety of careers in the Portland Metro-area and all over the world.

The Comics Studies Program draws from theory and hands-on practice, preparing participants to work in the field of comics and cartoon art as writers, artists, and scholars. Portland is particularly well known as the home of numerous artists, authors, scholars, and publishers specializing in comic art, and this program seeks to enhance ties with the local comics community. Comics studies at Portland State University is a vibrant, dynamic program on the cutting edge of contemporary literature and art practice that serves our students, our mission as a university, and our local community.

Portland is one of the largest hubs for comics in the country. Dark Horse Comics, Inc., founder, and president, Mike Richardson, didn’t just get his degree at PSU, he also chose the PSU library as the home for the Dark Horse Comics archives.

In addition to Dark Horse Comics, the Portland area is home to Oni Press, Image Comics, Milkfed Criminal Masterminds, and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

The comics studies certificate is available to graduate, undergraduate, and postbaccalaureate students. It features an exciting mix of courses with exceptional faculty across the disciplines as well as special courses with highly-lauded comics industry professionals. Classes are taught by a mix of PSU professors, comics professionals in Portland, and guest writers and artists from companies like Marvel, DC, and The New Yorker. Competitive internships with local companies are also offered each term.

The comics studies certificate is a great complement to programs such as English, art, or publishing, but students from all majors and levels are able to complete the program.

A richly historic language that spans the entire globe, contemporary Spanish is the culmination of centuries of literature, art, music and culture.

In your Spanish degree from Portland State University, you’ll study a language with over 50 million native speakers in the U.S. and another 400 million abroad, making it the second most popular native-spoken language in the United States and the world.

Whether you want to study the Spanish language and culture to get in touch with your family's history, immerse yourself in Hispanic culture, or prepare for an international career, a bachelor's degree in Spanish from Portland State will help you expand your knowledge and build your fluency.

The Spanish major is a degree focusing on language, culture, and history. You'll take courses in language, linguistics, literature, film, and life in Spanish-speaking countries and communities. You will join a diverse community of students, some learning Spanish as a new language and others who are native or heritage speakers broadening their skills, all bringing unique perspectives and a wide range of skills to the classroom.

In the Spanish program at PSU, students explore the relationships between language, history, and art using an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates perspectives from across the humanities, sciences, and professions.

Earn your Communication bachelor’s degree or minor at Portland State University and build strategic, data-savvy communication skills. Customize electives in media literacy, family communication, and environmental campaigns. Learn research methods and analytics, gain hands-on experience with community partners, and fast-track with a bachelor’s + master’s option to launch careers in marketing, PR, public service, health, and media.

Learn to be an effective and strategic communicator with a bachelor’s degree in communication from Portland State.

Our flexible curriculum lets you customize your studies as you explore communication theory, research and methods. You’ll choose from a variety of electives — like media literacy, family communication and environmental campaigns — that connect classroom lessons to current issues. 

Our faculty will help you improve your written and oral communication skills and introduce research methods and statistics that apply to real-world situations. You’ll learn applied skills like how to prepare public engagement plans or how to use data to track advertising expenses for political campaigns. You’ll also have the opportunity to study current issues like the relationship between social media use and mental health.

By graduating from our strategic communication program, you’ll better understand human behavior and communication and have the skills to start a professional career or attend graduate school in a wide range of fields.

Discover the limitless possibilities of science and its real-world applications with a bachelor's degree in Science from Portland State University. The flexible major can be tailored to fit your goals and will provide a basic mastery of multiple scientific fields.

We believe that even the world’s most destructive conflicts can be resolved to create a more peaceful future. With a bachelor’s degree in conflict resolution from Portland State University, you will be able to participate and contribute to this important work locally and globally.

As a conflict resolution major, you will learn to analyze conflict, uncovering the underpinnings of conflict dynamics in a wide variety of settings and scales. You will develop perspectives and gain skills to defuse and deescalate destructive conflicts that arise among individuals, groups and countries.

The courses in the program encompass the practical and theoretical bases of mediation, negotiation and an array of peace-enhancing perspectives and strategies. The program includes research, theory, and competency-based education focusing on building the necessary personal, social and institutional conditions necessary for positive peace, conflict transformation (from destructive to constructive), and universal respect for context-sensitive human rights. Students are encouraged to pursue their own particular interests in the study of conflict resolution.