Master of Climate and Environmental Policy (MCEP)

The Master of Climate and Environmental Policy (MCEP) is a robust applied public policy degree dedicated to the environment. Degree-seekers will receive the tools needed to make a change — especially finding and implementing solutions to the greatest challenges of our day at the intersection of climate change and environmental justice.

MCEP students can shape their own specialization from extensive elective offerings, or they may choose their path from three concentrations: Climate Change, Environmental Justice, or Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG). All MCEP students choose between a "research track" to write a thesis, or a "practice track" to pursue an externship or on-campus clinic.

MCEP students gain the core skills needed to shape environmental policy and integrate issues of racial and economic justice into practice and policymaking — including environmental research and writing, policy design, climate justice, structural inequality, public participation, and consensus-building.

At a glance

• Location: Online, on-campus, or a hybrid of both
• Credit Requirements: 34 credits
• Duration: As little as one year for full-time, residential students, or up to five years for part-time students

Vermont School for the Environment graduates are the leaders, policymakers, and professionals our communities and our world most desperately need. Environment and climate-related positions held by recent master’s graduates include:

• Community Development Specialist at Central Alabama Regional Planning Commission
• Energy and Water Specialist at Climate Resolve
• Associate at Rocky Mountain Institute
• Research Manager at Connecticut Roundtable on Climate and Jobs
• Environmental Protection Specialist for the Federal Highway Administration
• Environmental and Climate Policy Specialist at the VT Agency of Transportation
• Associate at the Clark Group, an environmental policy and communications consulting firm
• Director of Legislative Affairs, Savion, LLC, an energy firm
• Environmental Consultant at Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Cooperative

Residential Practice Track

August

• Introduction to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Professionalism

Subtotal 0 credits

Fall

• Legislation/Regulation Survey 3
• Environmental Research and Writing 3
• Fundamentals of Climate Change 2
• Fundamentals of Environmental Justice 2
• Structural Inequality 1
• Public Participation 0
• Elective 2-3

Subtotal 12-13 credits

Spring

• Policy Design 3
• Environmental Economics 3
• Clinic or Externship 4-6
• Negotiation & Consensus Building 0

Subtotal 10-12 credits

Summer

• Quantitative Analysis 2
• Elective 3
• Elective 2
• Elective 2
• Elective 1-2
• Elective 1-2

Subtotal 9-11 credits