Inevitably, somewhere around your junior year in high school, you start facing that all-important question: what do you want to do with your life? After all, your career choice will likely have a big influence on which college or university you choose to attend – and though it may seem like you’ve got ages before you’re going to graduate and finally set out on your own, it’s coming up faster than you think.
If you’re considering pursuing a career related to the environment, you’re in luck, because there are lots of great environmental undergraduate programs to choose from all over North America. Agricultural science, conservation biology, ecological design, environmental engineering, environmental science, environmental law and sustainable development are just a few of the undergrad majors available.
You’re also in good company. The New York Times reported in January that students are flocking to environmental programs in record numbers, inspired both by their own growing desire to protect and preserve the environment as well as the rosy projections about the future availability of green jobs. As these programs become more popular, more and more schools are starting to offer them and take a hard look at how sustainability can be incorporated into the programs that are already in place.
It’s no surprise that the colleges and universities with the best environmental programs are also among North America’s greenest. We’ve featured many of these schools on our weekly Green College Spotlight, honoring all of the steps they’ve taken to infuse sustainability into all aspects of campus operations. Here are some of North America’s top colleges and universities with stellar environmental programs, in no particular order.
Middlebury College, well known for its vibrant and diverse student body, has been named among America’s greenest schools by Forbes, Grist, Alternet and The Daily Green and was one of just 6 colleges to receive a grade of ‘A-‘ on the College Sustainability Report Card in 2008.
Middlebury established its Environmental Studies major in 1965, making it the first of its kind in the nation. The ES program is an interdisciplinary, nondepartmental major. Environmental Studies is one of Middlebury College’s most popular academic programs. Students get to experience hands-on training in top-notch science facilities. The departments are small, so you get plenty of one-on-one time with professors.
Highly selective, this Vermont college is ranked #5 among liberal arts colleges in the nation by US News & World Report.
U.S. News & World Report Stats:
Private
Fall 2007 Acceptance Rate: 20.6%,
2008-2009 Tuition: $49,210
Setting: Rural
Total # of Undergraduates: 2500
Located in the beautiful “Emerald City” of Eugene, The University of Oregon offers an interdisciplinary Environmental Studies program that provides students with opportunities to work alongside world-class scholars and researchers and gain hands-on experience relevant to a number of fields. Undergraduate alumni from this program have gone on to hold positions in environmental planning, environmental education, green investment planning, wildlife biology and many other fields.
The Environmental Studies Program offers a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Environmental Studies (ENVS) or Environmental Science (ESCI). A minor is offered in Environmental Studies. Some of the courses offered include Avian Conservation, Wetland Ecology and Management, Political Ecology and Environmental Leadership.
U.S. News & World Report Stats:
Public
Fall 2007 Acceptance Rate: 86.9%
Tuition for 2008-2009: $6,291 in-state, $19,428 out-of-state
Setting: Urban
Total # of Undergraduates: 16,674
Maine’s College of the Atlantic has been called the greenest in the world for its strong achievements in sustainability. It’s also one of the most unique: students design their own majors. There’s no defined list of majors or even departments. COA takes a holistic approach to learning, requiring every student to engineer their own education. Environmental and social problems are at the heart of COA curriculum.
The College of the Atlantic simply calls its academic program ‘Human Ecology’ and asks students to learn creativity, critical thinking, community engagement, communication, integrative thinking and interdisciplinarity. Environmental sciences is one of COA’s ‘Resource Areas’, with Field Ecology & Conservation Biology, Ecological Policy and Planning and Marine Studies among its six loosely defined ‘focus areas’.
The college’s location, adjacent to the Gulf of Maine and Acadia National Park, provides a rich setting for field research. Students don’t have to wait years to get out in the field – they often begin fieldwork in their first term.
U.S. News & World Report Stats:
Private
Fall 2007 Acceptance Rate: 77%
2008-2009 Tuition: $31,470
Setting: Rural
Total # of Undergraduates: 341
Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, North Carolina offers an Environmental Studies program that gives students a balance of theory, first-hand knowledge and field experience with six concentrations available: Conservation Biology, Environmental Chemistry, Environmental Education, Sustainable Forestry, Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Policy. The standard degree in Environmental Studies is Bachelor of Arts, but Bachelor of Science can be earned as an alternative.
Warren Wilson has been named the greenest college in the southeast and has made a number of ‘top 10 greenest colleges’ lists. This college puts an emphasis on learning outside the box, with opportunities to get hands-on experience on its 300-acre working farm and 600-acre forest, which operate as research laboratories for sustainable practices.
Sustainability plays a big role at Warren Wilson. The college has a number of environmental student organizations and initiatives, and is also home to an Environmental Leadership Center, which aims to raise awareness of local, national and global environmental realities and to inspire caring citizens to reflect, to communicate and to act as responsible caretakers of the earth.
U.S. News & World Report Stats:
Private
Fall 2007 Acceptance Rate: 80.6%
2008-2009 Tuition: $22,666
Setting: Rural
Total # of Undergraduates: 873
Northland College of Ashland, Wisconsin offers three environment-related majors: Environmental Sciences, Natural Resources and Nature and Culture. Focus areas include environmental geosciences, biology, ecological restoration and environmental humanities. But even if you don’t choose one of these majors, your course studies at Northland will be heavily influenced by sustainability. For example, you might take an art class that uses entirely environmentally-friendly materials. That’s what Northland is all about: liberal arts with an emphasis on the environment.
Sustainability is woven into the fabric of Northland College. Students can join environmental organizations like Environmental Council, which works to further the college’s environmental dedication, or Green Fire, which focuses on increasing the health of the Chequamegon bioregion. In the lush environment of the Lake Superior watershed, students are inspired to learn more about the environment and how they can help preserve it.
U.S. News & World Report Stats:
Private
Fall 2007 acceptance rate: 71%
2008-2009 Tuition: $23,101.
Setting: Rural
Total # of Undergraduates: 676
The State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry offers students a vast selection of undergraduate majors including aquatic and fisheries science, biotechnology, conservation biology, environmental biology, environmental studies and wildlife science. With so many programs of study available and a focus on the environment, SUNY-ESF draws students to Syracuse, New York from all over the world.
Students at SUNY-ESF get hands-on experience in diverse ecosystems such as the Great Lakes, the Adirondack Mountains, the Finger Lakes and the urban environment of Syracuse. The university features a state-of-the-art green building and laboratory, the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems, as well as other outstanding research facilities. Students with environmental interests get the opportunity to work with leaders in such fields as ecology, environmental chemistry and natural resource management among many others.
U.S. News & World Report Stats:
Private
Fall 2007 Acceptance Rate: 50.8%
2008-2009 Tuition: $5,136 in-state, $11,396 out-of-state
Setting: Urban
Total # of Undergraduates: 1545
University of Colorado at Boulder
The Bachelor of Arts degree program in Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder emphasizes the interconnections of environmental science and decision-making, drawing from curricula in the earth and natural sciences as well as the social sciences. The program’s purpose is to train students in the cause, scale and remediation strategies of the major environmental problems in the U.S. and the world.
Students get to take classes in a wide range of disciplines, allowing for a well-rounded education that stresses the connection between environmental issues and virtually every other aspect of the world. Courses are intensive and thorough, exploring each subject in a depth that helps transform students into the environmental experts of the future.
The internship program at the University of Colorado at Boulder allows students to learn in the field and is sponsored by the Sierra Club, the Center for Resource Conservation and Eco-Cycle, among other companies and organizations. Students also get hands-on experience during field work at the school’s various research facilities, including the Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research and the Mountain Research Station.
U.S. News & World Report Stats:
Public
Fall 2007 Acceptance Rate: 81.5%
2008-2009 Tuition: $7,278 in-state, $24,936 out-of-state
Setting: Urban
Total # of Undergraduates: 26,155
Of course, this is by no means a comprehensive list. North America is brimming with great environmental undergraduate programs and they’re growing every year. When seeking out the college or university that’s best for your needs, there are a lot of considerations to keep in mind including selectivity, cost and location. Start your search at EnviroEducation.com, where you can enter in your state and the subject you desire to study and get a list of matching schools along with links to their respective websites.
