With our society focusing ever more on environmental issues, it is no longer enough to have a standard scientific or business degree. Companies are in search of qualified personnel trained in environmental concerns.
Whether it is helping a company to ensure that it is in keeping with new governmental guidelines or helping a company adopt long-term planning that will incorporate ideas of conservation, those in possession of a green degree stand first in line when it comes to hiring considerations. For the soon-to-be high school graduate who is looking for a college that offers environmental studies, or the career professional considering returning to university for a second bachelor's degree, there are plenty of schools that offer the new path to a high paying job. Here we'll take a look at a few of the undergraduate programs that provide green degrees.
Framingham State College in Framingham, Massachusetts will soon offer a four year undergraduate green degree to meet the demands of municipal governments. Municipal departments such as the Department of Public Works are in need of qualified personnel to handle matters like water conservation and energy conservation. The program at Framingham will consist of the core courses like chemistry, engineering, and biology, but it will also contain a special emphasis on environmental issues.
Dominican University in San Rafael, California now offers a Bachelor's Degree in sustainable communities. This green degree program gives students the choice between two courses of study. The ecological food systems route centers on agricultural systems, particularly alternatives to the current highly industrialized systems and their negative effects on the environment. The eco-dwelling path focuses on creating living situations that incorporate sustainable energy and non-harmful waste disposal.
Online green degrees are also becoming available. The University of Massachusetts offers a bachelors degree in sustainable entrepreneurship. This program focuses on green building, energy conservation, and environmental economic issues. University administrators expect this to be an especially popular program because the online course will be convenient for students unable to attend regular day classes.
The University of Wisconsin also intends to offer an online green degree program. The Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Management will be offered entirely online, but it is the product of five University of Wisconsin campuses. The university hopes to train students for a variety of careers including those dealing with alternative energy sources, more environmentally sound waste management, marketing of environmentally friendly products and more. The program promises to focus on triple bottom line accounting, which is also called "people, planet, profit." This method of accounting hopes to balance the goals of profit with those of lessened environmental impact.
More and more colleges and universities are offering green degrees. While not every university may offer a complete degree, it may not be long before green studies are a standard part of every university's curriculum. Currently these programs are in response to a demand by business and industry for people trained in environmental concerns. It stands to reason that the demand will increase once some of these new graduates become business leaders.
