Earn an Online Degree: Master of Science in Environmental Policy

Turn your passion for global preservation into a meaningful career with a master’s degree in environmental policy. Kaplan University’s program could help prepare you to pursue a wide range of management-level positions that require knowledge of environmental issues and an ability to develop and execute strategies to support organizations or businesses.*

If you already have bachelor's degree from a regionally or nationally accredited college and want to earn an advanced degree to further your career, Kaplan University's online Master of Science in Environment Policy could help you pursue your goal.

| Curriculum | Tuition and Fees

Program Highlights

The Master of Science in Environmental Policy’s curriculum focuses on the legal, social, business, economic, and political aspects of the “green” industry. Our Web-based courses are taught by experienced industry professionals and are available virtually any time, anywhere you have access to the Internet. In this program, you will study how to:

Develop sustainability project goals, objectives, initiatives, or strategies in collaboration with other sustainability professionals
Evaluate and approve proposals for sustainability projects, considering factors such as cost effectiveness, technical feasibility, and integration with other initiatives
Generate environmental impact profiles for various industries/industrial processes
Conduct independent technical and historical research on a variety of environmental issues
Develop and execute strategies to address issues such as energy use, resource conservation, recycling, pollution reduction, waste elimination, transportation, education, and building design

What are the Career Opportunities?

The environmental field is growing fast—and with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dedicating $80 billion to clean energy investments, this growth is expected to continue.^†

Earning a Master of Science in Environmental Policy could help prepare you to pursue a mid- or upper-level position in environmental, government, or independent organizations. Possible positions include: environmental efficiency specialist, sustainable purchasing manager, environmental specialist, and renewable energy grant writer. You may also build a solid foundation to pursue more advanced academic degrees.^‡

Curriculum for the Master of Science in Environmental Policy Applied Research Track

Course #	Course Title	Credits
EM 500	ENVIRONMENTAL FOUNDATIONS AND PRINCIPLES	5 ENVIRONMENTAL FOUNDATIONS AND PRINCIPLES This course will explore the history of environmentalism and the issues, ethics, and economics surrounding the foundation of current environmental policy and management. Students will assess how environmental and resource issues have influenced economic development and societal growth, and the interdisciplinary connectedness of science, policy, and advocacy in environmental decision making and management. Both local and global ecosystems will be addressed.
EM 520	ENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND POLICY	5 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND POLICY This course examines United States environmental law and policy and its development, implementation, and enforcement. The perspective and impact of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches will be explored as well as their impact on environmental law and policy. Students will discuss the purpose, context, and implications of the most important laws, regulations, and court cases including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Clean Air Act (CAA), Clean Water Act (CWA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The course will examine important constitutional principles in substantive and procedural law as well as significant environmental laws and approaches.
EM 530	ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT II	5 ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT II This course explores the basic concepts of risk assessment, processes, and procedural methods to evaluate and critique scientific information. Students will explore the growing importance of the analysis of risk in regulatory decision making. Students learn how to balance the costs and benefits of risk reduction and how to account for the uncertainties in risk estimates. Additionally, students are introduced to terminology and concepts necessary in risk communication.
EM 650	ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ANALYSIS	5 ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ANALYSIS This course focuses on the analysis of environmental policy and approaches to problem solving. Students will study methods of analysis, performance measurements, and assessment of environmental policy and program evaluation.
LS 504	APPLIED RESEARCH IN LEGAL STUDIES	5 APPLIED RESEARCH IN LEGAL STUDIES In the first of two courses in applied research in legal studies, students will be introduced to applied research within the profession, which encourages adoption of the role of a reflective practitioner who seeks to simultaneously understand and change the professional setting. Students will examine the history of applied research and the intersection of applied research and experimental research. This study allows participants to develop an understanding of the processes and how they can impact their own professional setting.
PP 510	LEADERSHIP IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR	5 LEADERSHIP IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR Students will study leadership within the public sector and the application of ethical and leadership principles to decision making, actions, and interactions within public administration. Topics covered may include: organizational behavior, interest-based negotiation, leading networks, mediation, and leadership style.
EM 698	APPLIED RESEARCH	5 APPLIED RESEARCH Students experience the art and science of applied research while they develop the tools of reflective inquiry and collaborative practice. Students will engage in analysis of current issues and challenges to explore and practice applied research methods as a logical extension of professional practice. Integral to this process is the examination of both informal and systematic ways to ask and answer questions. Students will design a research plan for their own applied research project.
	LEGAL STUDIES OR CRIMINAL JUSTICE ELECTIVE	5 LEGAL STUDIES OR CRIMINAL JUSTICE ELECTIVE Legal Studies or Criminal Justice Elective

Choose three of the following courses:
EM 610	SUSTAINABILITY-POLICY AND PRACTICE	5 SUSTAINABILITY-POLICY AND PRACTICE This course examines the philosophical and practical principles of green and sustainable design through the exploration of environmental issues, sustainable methods, public policy, and decision making. Students will explore the strategic change in industry behavior away from the old emphasis on legal compliance to adopting an explicit goal of promoting sustainability. Sustainability principles, policies, and programs that encourage and guide current initiatives are analyzed. Students will reflect on the interconnectedness of social, ecological, governmental, economic, and ethical constructs associated with sustainability.
EM 620	ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT	5 ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT This course examines the key elements of environmental project management. Emphasis is placed on project management organization, planning, and communication strategies and critical factors such as the uncertainty project scope and the evolving environmental regulatory environment. Students will learn to develop environmental project plans, establish project organization, define management functions, estimate costs, and determine project effectiveness. Emphasis is placed on the integrated nature of environmental project management.
HM 500	CRISIS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT FUNDAMENTALS	5 CRISIS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT FUNDAMENTALS This course will introduce students to the concepts, issues, and problems of crisis and emergency management. Topics explored include: organizing and logistics for response, managing the response organization, managing in a high-stress environment, crisis decision making, crisis communications, liability issues, and resource assessment and allocation. This course will cover the methodology and rationale behind the unified response to a terrorist, weapons of mass destruction (WMD). or disaster incidents, and students will examine these methodologies from the perspective of crisis management and consequence management.
PP 630	PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS	5 PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS This course examines the relationship of business and government agencies in producing public services. Students will analyze policies and implementation in partnership and privatization models including outsourcing, contracting, and competition. The use of voluntary organizations will also be explored.
PP 640	POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC FORCES	5 POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC FORCES Students will explore the interaction of political and economic forces that impact public administrators in governmental and nonprofit sectors. The course will cover fundamental concepts such as marginal analysis, optimization and suboptimization, and ceteris paribus reasoning. Students will use economic reasoning to better explain this interaction between political entities and economic forces including governments' behavioral effects on markets, the role of competition in the provision of public goods, resource allocation, and market failure and government failure.
SC 525	ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT I	5 ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT I This course is technically oriented to examine the components of human health and ecological risk assessments. Students learn how to complete each step including risk assess¬ment, risk management, and risk communication through the analysis of case studies. Students will also gain knowledge of relating risk assessment methodologies, procedures, and results to environmental policies. By the end of this course students will be able to complete a risk assessment, recognize risk management options, and identify political factors that can influence their selection.
SC 540	BIOLOGY OF POLLUTION	5 BIOLOGY OF POLLUTION Biology of Pollution will assess the interactions between environmental pollutants and the biotic systems they affect. Specific situations where pollutants have affected various biota, such as plants, birds, and mammals, will be analyzed and strategies will be formulated on how to approach these situations. The effects of pollution on both aquatic and terrestrial populations, communities, and ecosystems will be assessed.
SC 550	CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES	5 CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES This course will examine concepts of natural resources and conservation, and explore how economics, ethics, and ecology can be applied to natural resource management, both in the United States and globally. Students are challenged to apply concepts learned to address the managing of natural resources in a number of regional and global contexts. Management issues relating to freshwater, agriculture, energy, wildlife, ecosystems, and ocean resources will be examined. Throughout this course, emphasis is placed on developing viable solutions to our current natural resource challenges.
SC 560	ENERGY AND OUR GLOBAL CLIMATE	5 ENERGY AND OUR GLOBAL CLIMATE Energy and Our Global Climate will provide students with a working knowledge of existing carbon-based energy sources and more sustainable alternative energies. The intimate relationship between energy use and climate change will be examined in depth. Environ¬mental impacts will be discussed and options to mitigate said impacts will be developed.
SC 570	ECOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS	5 ECOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS This course will provide students with an overview of ecology and a focus on the dynamics of ecological interactions. Concepts will begin with the idea of an ecological niche and branch out to the fundamentals of mutualism, commensalism, competition, and predation. Emphasis will be placed on concept application through the incorporation of scientific literature. As students become familiar with the literature, they will learn to evaluate assigned readings for validity in the scientific forum and synthesize class concepts. Learning to evaluate and critique current literature is essential for graduate students in all fields.

Total Program Requirements	55 Total Program Requirements

Core Requirements
Total Program Requirements

Curriculum for the Master of Science in Environmental Policy Comprehensive Exam

Course #	Course Title	Credits
EM 500	ENVIRONMENTAL FOUNDATIONS AND PRINCIPLES	5 ENVIRONMENTAL FOUNDATIONS AND PRINCIPLES This course will explore the history of environmentalism and the issues, ethics, and economics surrounding the foundation of current environmental policy and management. Students will assess how environmental and resource issues have influenced economic development and societal growth, and the interdisciplinary connectedness of science, policy, and advocacy in environmental decision making and management. Both local and global ecosystems will be addressed.
EM 520	ENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND POLICY	5 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND POLICY This course examines United States environmental law and policy and its development, implementation, and enforcement. The perspective and impact of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches will be explored as well as their impact on environmental law and policy. Students will discuss the purpose, context, and implications of the most important laws, regulations, and court cases including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Clean Air Act (CAA), Clean Water Act (CWA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The course will examine important constitutional principles in substantive and procedural law as well as significant environmental laws and approaches.
EM 530	ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT II	5 ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT II This course explores the basic concepts of risk assessment, processes, and procedural methods to evaluate and critique scientific information. Students will explore the growing importance of the analysis of risk in regulatory decision making. Students learn how to balance the costs and benefits of risk reduction and how to account for the uncertainties in risk estimates. Additionally, students are introduced to terminology and concepts necessary in risk communication.
EM 650	ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ANALYSIS	5 ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ANALYSIS This course focuses on the analysis of environmental policy and approaches to problem solving. Students will study methods of analysis, performance measurements, and assessment of environmental policy and program evaluation.
PP 510	LEADERSHIP IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR	5 LEADERSHIP IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR Students will study leadership within the public sector and the application of ethical and leadership principles to decision making, actions, and interactions within public administration. Topics covered may include: organizational behavior, interest-based negotiation, leading networks, mediation, and leadership style.
EM 602	COMPREHENSIVE EXAM CAPSTONE	5 COMPREHENSIVE EXAM CAPSTONE As a final step in the Master of Science in Environmental Policy, students may choose the nonthesis option and successfully complete a comprehensive exam. This comprehensive exam incorporates the program outcomes of the program. This exam is designed to carefully assess a student’s overall learning in the program. Successful completion of the exam allows both student and faculty to measure and acknowledge a successful learning experience for the student.

Course #	Course Title	Credits
	LEGAL STUDIES OR CRIMINAL JUSTICE ELECTIVE	5 LEGAL STUDIES OR CRIMINAL JUSTICE ELECTIVE Legal Studies or Criminal Justice Elective
Select four of the following courses:
EM 610	SUSTAINABILITY-POLICY AND PRACTICE	5 SUSTAINABILITY-POLICY AND PRACTICE This course examines the philosophical and practical principles of green and sustainable design through the exploration of environmental issues, sustainable methods, public policy, and decision making. Students will explore the strategic change in industry behavior away from the old emphasis on legal compliance to adopting an explicit goal of promoting sustainability. Sustainability principles, policies, and programs that encourage and guide current initiatives are analyzed. Students will reflect on the interconnectedness of social, ecological, governmental, economic, and ethical constructs associated with sustainability.
EM 620	ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT	5 ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT This course examines the key elements of environmental project management. Emphasis is placed on project management organization, planning, and communication strategies and critical factors such as the uncertainty project scope and the evolving environmental regulatory environment. Students will learn to develop environmental project plans, establish project organization, define management functions, estimate costs, and determine project effectiveness. Emphasis is placed on the integrated nature of environmental project management.
HM 500	CRISIS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT FUNDAMENTALS	5 CRISIS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT FUNDAMENTALS This course will introduce students to the concepts, issues, and problems of crisis and emergency management. Topics explored include: organizing and logistics for response, managing the response organization, managing in a high-stress environment, crisis decision making, crisis communications, liability issues, and resource assessment and allocation. This course will cover the methodology and rationale behind the unified response to a terrorist, weapons of mass destruction (WMD). or disaster incidents, and students will examine these methodologies from the perspective of crisis management and consequence management.
PP 630	PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS	5 PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS This course examines the relationship of business and government agencies in producing public services. Students will analyze policies and implementation in partnership and privatization models including outsourcing, contracting, and competition. The use of voluntary organizations will also be explored.
PP 640	POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC FORCES	5 POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC FORCES Students will explore the interaction of political and economic forces that impact public administrators in governmental and nonprofit sectors. The course will cover fundamental concepts such as marginal analysis, optimization and suboptimization, and ceteris paribus reasoning. Students will use economic reasoning to better explain this interaction between political entities and economic forces including governments' behavioral effects on markets, the role of competition in the provision of public goods, resource allocation, and market failure and government failure.
SC 525	ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT I	5 ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT I This course is technically oriented to examine the components of human health and ecological risk assessments. Students learn how to complete each step including risk assess¬ment, risk management, and risk communication through the analysis of case studies. Students will also gain knowledge of relating risk assessment methodologies, procedures, and results to environmental policies. By the end of this course students will be able to complete a risk assessment, recognize risk management options, and identify political factors that can influence their selection.
SC 540	BIOLOGY OF POLLUTION	5 BIOLOGY OF POLLUTION Biology of Pollution will assess the interactions between environmental pollutants and the biotic systems they affect. Specific situations where pollutants have affected various biota, such as plants, birds, and mammals, will be analyzed and strategies will be formulated on how to approach these situations. The effects of pollution on both aquatic and terrestrial populations, communities, and ecosystems will be assessed.
SC 550	CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES	5 CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES This course will examine concepts of natural resources and conservation, and explore how economics, ethics, and ecology can be applied to natural resource management, both in the United States and globally. Students are challenged to apply concepts learned to address the managing of natural resources in a number of regional and global contexts. Management issues relating to freshwater, agriculture, energy, wildlife, ecosystems, and ocean resources will be examined. Throughout this course, emphasis is placed on developing viable solutions to our current natural resource challenges.
SC 560	ENERGY AND OUR GLOBAL CLIMATE	5 ENERGY AND OUR GLOBAL CLIMATE Energy and Our Global Climate will provide students with a working knowledge of existing carbon-based energy sources and more sustainable alternative energies. The intimate relationship between energy use and climate change will be examined in depth. Environ¬mental impacts will be discussed and options to mitigate said impacts will be developed.
SC 570	ECOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS	5 ECOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS This course will provide students with an overview of ecology and a focus on the dynamics of ecological interactions. Concepts will begin with the idea of an ecological niche and branch out to the fundamentals of mutualism, commensalism, competition, and predation. Emphasis will be placed on concept application through the incorporation of scientific literature. As students become familiar with the literature, they will learn to evaluate assigned readings for validity in the scientific forum and synthesize class concepts. Learning to evaluate and critique current literature is essential for graduate students in all fields.

Total Program Requirements	55 Total Program Requirements

Core Requirements
Elective Requirements
Total Program Requirements

You Could Save Time and Money on Your Kaplan University Degree

Credit for Prior Learning

If you already earned course credits at another institution, you may qualify for transfer credit that can be applied toward your program requirements at Kaplan University. Qualifying transfer credit may reduce your total costs for graduate programs. Refer to the University Catalog for our transfer of credit policy.

Students in the Military

Kaplan University is proud to support our military and veterans in their educational pursuits by offering significantly reduced tuition. Undergraduate program tuition is reduced up to 55 percent for active-duty servicemembers and up to 38 percent for veterans. In addition, Kaplan University participates in the Yellow Ribbon program for all of our graduate programs, and both active-duty servicemembers and veterans are eligible for special tuition rates for these programs. A 10 percent tuition reduction is also available to spouses of active-duty servicemembers. For more information, call 866.583.4412 (Toll Free) to speak to a military Admissions Advisor or visit the Kaplan University military site.

Tuition and Fees

Cost per credit hour	$368.00
Total program requirements Master of Science in Environmental Policy Applied Research Track	55
Total cost of tuition	$20,240.00
Cost per credit hour	$368.00
Total program requirements Master of Science in Environmental Policy Comprehensive Exam	55
Total cost of tuition	$20,240.00
This program requires a $100 technology fee per term. A nonrefundable application fee, depending on your program and as described in the Tuition and Fees Supplement, may be required at the time of enrollment. We encourage you to explore the availability of financial aid and scholarships. For more information, contact an Admissions Advisor.

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*Kaplan University's programs are designed to prepare graduates to pursue employment in their field of study, or in related fields. However, the University does not guarantee that graduates will be placed in any particular job, eligible for job advancement opportunities, or employed at all. Additional training or certification may be required.
^†Source: The White House, Issues: Energy and Environment, on the Internet at www.whitehouse.gov/issues/energy-and-environment.
^‡While many of Kaplan University's degree programs are designed to prepare graduates to pursue continued bachelor-, graduate- or doctorate-level education, the University cannot guarantee that students will be granted admission to any programs.

Master of Science in Environmental Policy

School of Legal Studies