MBA Programs Beef up Environmental Curricula

Another sign that sustainability has become a mainstream business practice: environmental education is now a key component of MBA programs, and one that is constantly evolving.

Business as UNusual, a graduate student guide by nonprofit Net Impact, profiled over 100 schools and found that in the past year alone, 50 have added and adjusted social and environmental curricula – in their courses, certificates, experiential learning opportunities and collaborations across graduate programs.

Net Impact says the changes are in response to student demand. In the organization’s survey of 3,300 MBA students, 85 percent said they would take a 15 percent pay cut to work for an organization whose values match their own. (Other results are shown in the graphic above.)

But as companies shape up their environmental strategies – driven in part by insights from these very same graduates – fewer will need to take that cut.

Tamar Wilner is Senior Editor at Environmental Leader PRO.