Good schools for environmental studies?

College Search & Selection
1

Hi everyone! I’m interested in schools with strong environmental studies
programs and would love some
suggestions. I’d prefer programs that
had concentrations in environmental
policy. I have a 3.98 gpa and a 27 act. I’m a CA resident and would like to
stay on the west coast.
Thanks!

2

What can your family afford to pay? are you interested in a larger university or smaller LAC? Do you care if you are in a city or rural location?

3

Based on your posted stats look at the following CA schools: UC Santa Cruz and Long Beach State. Other schools of interest but more of Reach schools would be UC Davis, Santa Barbara, USC, Occidental.

4

San Francisco State

5

Just an FYI that undergrads with environment policy backgrounds are not nearly as employable as those with strong science backgrounds and graduate level technical training. I suggest you do some informational interviewing with people who are working in the environmental nonprofits that you know, alum at your future college in the field, faculty, and anyone else who can give you some solid advice about career paths - where the growth is, where the opportunities are, what skills are in demand. A background in policy is not by itself a great launching pad for undergrads based on my conversations with specialists in the field - but you should do your own research on this topic.

6

There are plenty of terrific options in California. In the CSU system, check out Humboldt State in particular, but others such as CSU Monterey Bay, Sonoma State, and SDSU are also very good. All of the UCs are good options, though admission may be difficult at the more selective ones.

Also scope out the WUE schools, some of which have cheaper tuition than some of the UCs. Plenty of good environmental offerings in the list, including U Hawaii, ASU, Colorado State, U Montana, Western Washington, Washington State, etc…

http://wue.wiche.edu/search_results.jsp?searchType=all

For smaller options, there’s Lewis & Clark, Whitman (reach), Willamette, U Redlands, and U Puget Sound.

7

Thanks everyone! Warblersrule, I’m developing an interest in hsu, but I’ve heard it doesn’t have the best reputation. Do you know anything about the program? Is it well respected in the environmental field?