Master of Science in Sustainability

Curriculum Overview

36 U.S. credits · 12 graduate courses · 100% online

The Master of Science in Sustainability approaches the field from two perspectives: legal and financial. Using scientific methods to research the concepts behind sustainability, students examine how legal frameworks affect environmental, social, and governance topics across jurisdictions, and how a behavioral, sustainability-minded approach can support financial decision-making within companies.

Master of Science Sustainability 36 credits · 100% online · Licensed by Florida CIE #9097

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Master of Science in Sustainability. 12 courses, 36 U.S. credit hours, 100% online. Licensed by the Florida Commission for Independent Education, License #9097.
Course	What you study
ISM 500Technological Learning Tools	Students become familiar with the virtual learning environment that structures a fully online graduate program. The course provides an in-depth understanding of Moodle, Google Drive, online questionnaires, forums, and collaboration tools, establishing the operational basis for academic work, communication, and participation throughout the program itself.
SAS 505Sustainability Accounting Systems: ESG Metrics and Beyond	Sustainability accounting is presented as a way to support positive impact through technology and innovation. The course combines theoretical foundations with practical applications, giving students a structured view of how accounting systems can incorporate ESG metrics and wider sustainability considerations into everyday financial reporting.
SLF 510Sustainability Legal Frameworks	The legal framework of sustainability is examined as a dynamic system involving governments, businesses, and civil society. Students explore how the Sustainable Development Goals provide a comprehensive framework for policy and regulation, and how those legal and institutional instruments can operate as a lever for change across sustainability topics.
SIC 520Industry Challenges and Opportunities	Five key industries—electricity, manufacturing, agriculture and livestock farming, transportation, and communication—serve as the focus for studying adaptation. The course examines the challenges and opportunities that emerge as these sectors respond to a changing landscape shaped by technology, sustainability, and societal demands in each industry.
BEH 530Behavioral Sustainability: From Fear & Anxiety to Faith & Hope	Human behavior is addressed through the different dimensions affected by sustainability knowledge. Topics include cultural myths and paradoxes, personal and dietary impact, and the fear and anxiety that sustainability can produce. The course also considers how these reactions may be managed into faith and hope through individual and collective action.
SFI 540Sustainability in the Finance Department and in Financial Markets	Sustainable finance and investment are treated as an interdisciplinary field that integrates environmental, social, and governance factors into financial decision-making. The course connects the finance department and financial markets with the metrics, indexes, and standards that facilitate sustainability-related investment decisions.
RSC 550Research and Scientific Communication	Scientific research is approached through the practical processes used to locate, organize, reference, and communicate academic work. Students work with bibliographic searches in scientific databases, bibliographic reference formats, APA referencing, and the dissemination of research through conferences and scientific poster presentations as part of that vision.
SSB 605Sustainability Scientific Grounds: Basic Chemistry, Biophysics, and Meteorology	Environmental sustainability is studied from the perspective of basic science. The course examines the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of air, water, and soil that are relevant to sustainability. It also considers how those characteristics relate to sustaining the conditions required for a comfortable, conflict-free future over time.
SMA 610Sustainability Scientific Grounds: Mathematics and Sustainable Economics	The framework of sustainability is reviewed alongside the role of mathematics curricula in economic and environmental sustainability. Students examine what mathematics can contribute to sustainability problems and what economics can add to that analysis, connecting both fields to the study and resolution of sustainability problems from both perspectives.
BES 620Behavioral Economics and Sustainability	The relationship between behavioral economics and sustainable economics is the central focus. The course traces how land, described as a limiting factor forgotten by orthodox economics after the Industrial Revolution, has returned to economic thought through concepts such as the Circular Economy and the Doughnut Economy.
SEG 630Energy, Green Capitalism, and Growth	Economic problems derived from climate change provide the starting point for examining responses proposed by governments and institutions. Students study green growth, the limits to economic growth, degrowth, and the green transformations underway in developed and developing countries as part of that first approach to the topic and its proposed solutions.
CAP 701Capstone Project	The Capstone Project serves as the culminating academic and intellectual experience of the program. This multifaceted assignment is supported by continuous tutoring for academic writing. Students present their work before an online tribunal of professors, who evaluate the final project and its presentation.