Penn State Sustainability Courses

This is an excellent resource for students looking to expand their education beyond their traditional coursework. Instead of just pursuing mechanical engineering or journalism, for example, students have the opportunity to enroll in sustainability (labeled “SUST”) classes that count towards the fulfillment of a sustainability leadership minor. The most popular of these classes is labeled “SUST 200: Foundations of Leadership in Sustainability.” When the website is opened, the entire course list is right on this page, but students can learn more about SUST 200 by clicking on the small down arrow and reading the course description provided.

SUST 200 course description

In addition to the in-depth course description shown above, it also lists how many credits the course is worth and what general education categories and learning objectives it satisfies. This is a 3-credit course, typical of most courses at Penn State, and satisfies the Social and Behavioral Sciences (GS) general education requirement. Students can work through this website and see which classes can fit into their schedules and majors depending on the credit value and associated general education or substitution opportunities.

In order to navigate to the Sustainability Leadership minor, students can click on the blue “Home” button in the top corner and type “Sustainability Leadership” into the search bar. The first result is a link to the minor, which provides a program description and required courses that students would need to take in order to graduate with the minor. The specific path can be shown in the images below.

Home button on front page

Search bar for Sustainability Leadership minor

Sustainability Leadership minor landing page

Tips for Navigating this Resource

When reading through each of the course descriptions, it is crucial that students review their remaining requirements on Penn State LionPath to determine whether any of these credit-bearing opportunities are actually feasible provided the student’s course of study. It is also recommended that students pay attention to the type of course being offered, as certain tags such as an “N” attachment indicate certain types of courses that students may or may not need. For example, SUST 150N is an interdomain class that covers multiple general education requirements through one class.