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Majoring in Sustainability

Majoring in Sustainability

books_apple.jpgThe demand for talent who understand sustainability is exceptionally high. Colleges and universities have picked up on this, and now business schools across the country have begun adding a sustainability concentration to their curriculum. Arizona State University and the University of North Carolina are among the institutions that have added programs this year.

It seems like a paradox: Someone trained to appease the interests of both business and the environment. But as companies are finding out, employing the right people brings these two interests together under a common goal.

“Sure, businesses need to make a profit, and we understand that,” said Matt Tueth, who runs the sustainable business program at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Mich. “But if you want an infrastructure that is going to provide goods and services indefinitely, then it needs to be sustainable.”

It’s not an easy program, either. Aquinas’s bachelor degree program in sustainable business, which currently has 63 students, requires mastering physics, biology, chemistry, accounting, marketing, management and environmental science.

And I thought one course in natural resources was tough….