Environmental and Sustainability Studies, M.S.

Environmental and Sustainability Studies

Master of Science (37 Credit Hours)

This interdisciplinary program will prepare you for the challenges of a career in the environmental field. As a student of environmental policy, you’ll focus on the development and implementation of public policy responses to environmental issues, especially the economic, political and social factors that are an intrinsic part of the policymaking process. If you are more interested in the science behind policy issues, you’ll acquire a solid foundation based on the ways information should be used to assess environmental and societal risk and the relevant policies. Coursework is in environmental science and policy as is the laboratory work and field research.

The MES Program at the College of Charleston has been designed to provide students with an appreciation of the interdisciplinary nature of environmental problems through graduate-level studies of both Policy and Science.

This interdisciplinary focus allows us to address a wide variety of resources, development, and planning pressures that currently face society. Through our core and elective course curriculum, faculty expertise, and specialization development (the clustering of courses in areas such as coastal and wetlands management, environmental planning, and environmental hazards), the MES Program provides training that addresses each of these challenges. Our alumni are finding employment in a wide variety of fields, where their training in both Science and Policy serves them well.

As an interdisciplinary program, the MES Program is not housed in a single academic department at the College of Charleston. Instead, six departments (Biology, Geology and Environmental Geosciences, Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy, Political Science, and Economics) contribute to the core and elective coursework and faculty time to the program. Faculty from many other departments and off-campus institutes and agencies are an invaluable part of the MES Program as well.

About the College

A superior public university with the personality to spare.

Located in the heart of historic Charleston, South Carolina, the College of Charleston is a nationally recognized public liberal arts and sciences university. Founded in 1770, the College is among the nation’s top universities for quality education, student life, and affordability. Its beautiful and historic campus, combined with contemporary facilities, cutting-edge programs, and accessible faculty attracts students from across the U.S. and around the world.

Over 10,000 undergraduates and approximately 1,000 graduate students at the College enjoy a small-college feel blended with the advantages and diversity of a mid-sized, urban university. They work closely with a committed faculty, made up of more than 500 distinguished teacher-scholars. And the city of Charleston – world-renowned for its history, architecture, culture and coastal environment – serves as a living and learning laboratory for experiences in business, science, technology, teaching, the humanities, languages, and the arts.

Mission, Vision, and Values

Honoring the timeless principles of the liberal arts and sciences.

The College of Charleston is a state-supported comprehensive institution providing a high-quality education in the arts and sciences, education and business. The faculty is an important source of knowledge and expertise for the community, state, and nation.

Consistent with its heritage since its founding in 1770, the College retains a strong liberal arts undergraduate curriculum. Located in the heart of historic Charleston, it strives to meet the growing educational demands primarily of the Lowcountry and the state and, secondarily, of the Southeast. A superior undergraduate program is central to the mission of the College of Charleston. As a prominent component of the state’s higher education system, the College encourages and supports research.

In addition to offering a broad range of baccalaureate degree programs, the College incorporates the University of Charleston, South Carolina (UCSC), established by state statute in 1992, which serves as a research institution where the graduate and research programs associated with the College are housed. UCSC provides master’s degree programs and anticipates offering a limited number of doctoral degrees should location and need a warrant. The College also provides an extensive credit and non-credit continuing education program and cultural activities for residents of the Lowcountry of South Carolina.

The College of Charleston seeks applicants capable of successfully completing degree requirements and pays particular attention to identifying and admitting students who excel academically. The College of Charleston serves a diverse student body from its geographic area and also attracts students from national and international communities. The College provides students a community in which to engage in original inquiry and creative expression in an atmosphere of intellectual freedom. This community, founded on the principles of the liberal arts tradition, provides students the opportunity to realize their intellectual and personal potential and to become responsible, productive members of society.

The Mission Statement (also called the Statement of Purpose) has been approved or revised by the State College Board of Trustees or the College of Charleston Board of Trustees on January 16, 1974; March 12, 1986; January 16, 1991; February 15, 1994; July 13, 2006; July 23, 2014; and August 25, 2014.