Environmental policy is a growing industry and pays very well. Sustainability specialists make between 70-150k. It also depends on whether you go the corporate route or humanitarian route. Corporate policy specialists make good money.
If you have insight on Cornell and Columbia, I would love to hear it. I have researched their policy websites extensively though and Cornell seems to have wonderful environmental policy offerings.
My friend who transferred from my school to Cornell said that many environmental people there become consultants and make good money. She also attested that the name brand secured her an internship just for going to Cornell that will provide her with a guaranteed 100k job out of college.
I have never heard of the Truman School being a great school. Maybe for political science? But after talking to my advisors, I have been told not to do the school’s international studies/environmental studies programs. They are classified as an emphasis under “interdisciplinary studies,” and the school is currently working on reforming that program.
Similarly, my policy advisor told me that the public affairs and policy major is very new and geared more towards public affairs/administration than policy. The major is barely 30 credits, and most of those are policy “electives” that you get to make up as you go.
There is no emphasis in environmental policy, and there is only one environmental policy class. I looked into seeing if the environmental science degree had a policy track, but the closest is education and outreach.
If I stay at my school, of course I will do the policy major and get a sustainability certificate. However, it isn’t optimal.
I am hoping to go into larger scale policy for the UN or for large corporations to make the greatest impact possible on sustainability, so going to a more “prestigious” school would help.