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Academic Sustainability

Through the integration of a creative, multidisciplinary curriculum, groundbreaking research, and social engagement, the University of Pittsburgh is working to educate every member of its faculty, staff, and student communities on sustainability, while creating innovative contributions to a more sustainable world. Through various academic centers, courses, certificates, minors, majors, internships, and community activities, there are many opportunities to engage with and consider sustainability.

Academic Programs
Courses
Research Opportunities
Faculty

Academic Programs

Pitt schools and departments offer a wide variety of courses with sustainability content, as well as sustainability-focused undergraduate and graduate programs and fellowships.

Undergraduate Certificates

Majors & Minors

Transcript Distinction

The Sustainability Transcript Distinction provides students with a mechanism to gain recognition and “credit” for their outside-the-classroom endeavors, combined with sustainability-focused classes. (Started in 2021)

Students at computers learning diversity

Doctoral Program

Masters Degrees

Graduate Certificates

Micro-credential

New in 2023, the Micro-credential in Sustainable Business is a 9-credit opportunity for Pitt graduate students or anyone with a bachelor’s degree.

Courses

Offerings vary from term to term, but Pitt offers a wide array of sustainability-related courses.

Look for these 2 attribute codes to students courses with sustainability content and focus (under Interdisciplinary Themes):

MCSI – Sustainability-focused
A sustainability-focused course addresses sustainability as an integrated concept throughout, highlighting the interconnectivity between social, economic, and environmental dimensions.

MCSI – Sustainability-related
A sustainability-related course or program incorporates sustainability as a distinct component or concentrates on the interconnection between two of the three pillars: social, economic, and environmental dimensions.

Explore Sustainability-focused Courses

Undergraduate Academic Toolkit
Learn how to apply your sustainability interests to your academic, service, advocacy, and professional pursuits!

See toolkit

First Year Academic Community: Nature - Cities - Humans
How do humans live in harmony with each other and nature in urban areas? Explore how sustainability plays out in natural and built environments. Examine the tradeoffs, challenges, and opportunities of balancing equity, environment, and economics at the campus and city scale. | 7 credits
Sustainability Living Learning Communities
(First Year & Upperclass)
Living with other like-minded students, you’ll participate in programs that explore sustainability topics by blending environmental, equitable, and economic perspectives through monthly discussions, guest speakers, and engagement with Pitt students and leaders.
Sustainability Global Experiences
Explore sustainability around the world, through place, food, service, architecture, social change, and more.

Research Opportunities

Pitt fosters a community of passionate students interested in working on solving concerns at the nexus of equity, environment, and economics — and there are lots of opportunities to do sustainability research as a Pitt student.

Research Opportunities

Faculty

Faculty are integral to Pitt’s sustainability journey in many ways.  Whether through teaching, research, or outreach (and more), opporutnities for Pitt faculty to lead University sustainability achievements are fast.

Learn more about which faculty are already involved in sustainability work, how to green your course(s), what a sustainability course attribute is (and how to apply for one), funding, and more!

Learn more