Best Environmental Policy Undergrads?

Since it is such a new field, it is difficult to find good lists of which schools have the best environmental policy programs for undergraduates rather than a master’s program.

I’m looking for interdisciplinary programs that combine public policy, environmental science/studies, and data science.

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The fields you listed tend to be interdisciplinary themselves. Public policy, which relies on insights from political science, economics and philosophy for its foundation, emphasizes practical approaches to seemingly complex issues. Environmental studies, from a policy perspective, applies science and statistics to areas such as environmental justice and climate change. Data science uses tools from statistics and computer science toward applications to a variety of fields. To start with, you may want to seek colleges offering majors in all three of these interdisciplinary fields. Specificity beyond this may counterproductively narrow your choices.

This is what DS is interested in. UMD has a good program that combines both the science and policy, as does Ohio State. He also applied to NC State. Penn State is his first choice–though the major itself doesn’t have as many policy classes. I really recommend talking to department advisors and seeing the programs themselves.

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I have worked in a public policy area that touches on environmental policy for a good part of my career. While majors in the area are new, the field has been around for a long time and most of the people who work in it majored in something that is not obvious. I was a chemical engineer undergrad and then got an MBA. My coworker was a political science major with a law degree. Other people I work with started in Finance or economics. There are a lot of mechanical engineers working in the field too. Bottom line is that in order to work in this field you do not need an undergrad that covers all the aspects so don’t feel you have to limit yourself to schools that have exactly the right major.

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For those in California looking for Environmental Policy …


UC Berkeley has one of the top natural resources schools in the world — Rausser College of Natural Resources — with two policy-focused undergraduate majors:

  • Environmental Economics and Policy: “Students who graduate from the major should be prepared to undertake a career in public or private agencies engaged in the planning or management of natural resources, or to enter a graduate school for further study in such fields as agricultural and resource economics, economics, law, public policy, or resources administration.”
  • Society and Environment: “Society and Environment introduces students to the main approaches and theory for environmental social sciences, including how social science tools can be applied to environmental problems, and how social science theories contribute to understanding environmental problems. Students are exposed to three areas of concentration, and choose to focus on one: (1) U.S. Environmental Policy and Management, (2) Global Environmental Politics, or (3) Justice and Sustainability.”

Although UCLA has an Institute of the Environment, their Environmental Analysis and Policy major is a part of their Luskin School of Public Affairs.

  • “The EAP courses will provide students with a conceptual understanding of the nature, magnitude and causes of environmental processes and problems; the environmental impacts of housing, employment and transportation; environmental and sustainability policy and planning approaches; strategies to redress the unequal distribution of environmental burdens and benefits generated by government programs; and a set of professional skills useful for effective practice.”

UC Davis was the UC’s agricultural school, so has a deep and broad set of options in their College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, with the most relevant major being Environmental Policy Analysis and Planning.

  • “Do you want to explore the relationships among the environment, law, policy, people and community planning? Students in the environmental policy analysis and planning (EPAP) major apply coursework in natural sciences to analyze environmental problems and formulate policy options and solutions. Issues of resource quality, pollution, energy use and recreational policy are all addressed by EPAP majors. Students gain skills in the growing areas of environmental impact assessment and geographic information systems.”

UCSD has an Environmental Systems/Environmental Policy Major (scroll down until you find it), but their site doesn’t have a readily copy-and-pastable description.


UCSB claims to have had the first environmental studies undergrad programs in the U.S. (though I’m not sure how that squares with the Berkeley and Davis programs), with two majors that look related — Environmental Studies (BA) and Hydrological Sciences and Policy (BS). It’s hard to tell from the site what the particular areas of focus entail, but digging into the major requirements will yield more insights.


UC Irvine has an Environmental Science and Policy major.

  • “The Environmental Science and Policy B.A. prepares students interested in environmental problem solving by linking an understanding of natural science with socioeconomic factors and public policy. The curriculum combines a quantitative understanding of environmental science, chemistry, and biology with law, policy, and economics to provide a foundation for careers in environmental policy, resource management, education, environmental law, urban and environmental design, and related fields.”

UC Santa Cruz has a page relating to their “advising cluster” of Environmental Policy, Science, and Sustainability, but it looks like a student would need to create a “combined major” of Environmental Studies and Economics, or similar.


I should also note that most of the above schools (as well as CSUs/Cal Polys) have other environmental programs, focused more on the sciences, or on range management, etc. I tried to keep the above notes focused on policy-related programs. (I also probably missed a few pertinent ones.) And there are also several schools that offer minors, like Cal Poly Humboldt’s Environmental Policy Minor.

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SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Quite well regarded in the field. And it’s on the campus of Syracuse University and you can take SU courses as well. Between the two schools I think you’d find every course/experience you’re looking for.

Piggybacking on this–I was also in the environmental policy/planning field for a couple of decades. We had lots of geography majors, believe it or not, and a good many of my colleagues had law degrees even if they were not employed as actual attorneys. When I started there in the early 90’s many of us were hired with only Bachelor’s degrees. Now it is de rigueur to have at least a Master’s.

I think you got all this same feedback and more on your alternative thread. And frankly what you describe here can be done at most every school in the country - including your current - whether it’s a defined major or not.

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And sometimes the route in to Environmental Policy is not what you think…

Nutrition-- very important.
Agronomy- very important.
Urban Planning- very important

and Econ- good old econ. Every credible think tank is going to have someone who can help the content folks figure out “what’s it going to cost”. Every Senate and House committee which touches on the environment is going to have folks with a finance or econ background. The recommendations are useless (or just fantasyland) unless someone can cost out how much/how long.

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An Agricultural Economics degree will touch on many of these topics. Some programs will even have concentrations in environmental economics.

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Washington college in Chestertown Maryland has a 3-2 program in environmental policy with Duke Univ. Although it is a masters at the end, it is only 5 years. Washington is very hands on for environment studies/science. The students go out on boats or into the water with waders every semester.

There are very few, if any, colleges that are stronger than Duke in public policy, environmental science, and environmental policy, especially at the undergrad level. (For full disclosure, I majored in Earth & Ocean Sciences at Duke, so I’m admittedly a bit biased.) Unfortunately, Duke is a reach for virtually everyone these days.

Although pub pol and environmental science majors are enrolled in the undergrad college of arts & sciences (Trinity), the undergraduate programs are housed in the schools of public policy (Sanford) and environmental science (Nicholas). Both are top-notch.

That said, I agree with the posters above that there many colleges that would provide perfectly good preparation for a career in environmental policy. Much depends on your stats and what you can afford.

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For public policy in general, you may want to seek colleges with a connection to Washington, D.C., with associated internship opportunities. Through this, you can refine your interests and begin to shape your future career.

University of Minnesota has a major called Biology, Society and the Environment (BSE) housed in the College of Liberal Arts that is a great program for someone interested in Environmental Policy. The great thing about UMN is that if that’s the path she wants to take, there are many ways to get there whether it’s through BSE or one of the other 300 majors offered. Lizardkid originally wanted to apply BSE but changed to a similar major in CFANS (College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources).

I think UMN is great - but OP has another thread where they state unhappiness as a journalism major and state this - so UMN likely not what they are looking for. Frankly, anything they are asking for is likely already where they are - so I think it’s a bigger issue than the topic that is listed here. But this is what OP doesn’t like and I’ve linked their other thread which has many of the same suggestions listed here such as SUNY ESF and others.

I am at a large 30,000 student state school with a large emphasis on sports. Currently, I am a journalism major.

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I have one question - “Why?”

The big feeder into the federal government’s science policy jobs are the AAAS science policy jobs. I don’t know if a PhD is required, but the vast majority of successful applicants have one. Further, many discover that big-P Policy is made via the democratic process, and not by Washington technocrats. The best one can hope for is small-p policy, and someone good at their job is good at meshing the very general policy objectives of the politicals to the nuts and bolts of actually running a government. This is by no means entry-level.

Now, if your plan is to study this for a couple of years and then take a relatively unrelated job, great. Lots of people do this. But if you want to work in that field, after 4 years of school you will not be creating policy. It would be more likely you would be working on compliance for people who want to build something somewhere.

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In addition to Washington College, there is a pretty long list of small colleges that participate in the 3+2 master’s program with Duke:

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