Environmental Studies - Dual Degree

The Cooperative College Program coordinates the education of students at Oglethorpe University with graduate programs in environmental studies and natural resources offered by the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. This program provides a unique combination of liberal and professional education well suited for those desiring to enter the fields of environmental studies or natural resources. Participating Oglethorpe students are accepted into either of two degree programs at Duke: the Master of Environmental Management (MEM) or the Master of Forestry (MF). The degree awarded is determined by the student's area of concentration at Duke. The program accommodates a wide range of undergraduate backgrounds, and experience indicates that students majoring in one of the natural or social sciences, pre-engineering, economics, or business administration are best suited for it. Although some students may prefer to complete the baccalaureate degree before undertaking graduate study at Duke, highly qualified students can reach a satisfactory level of preparation with three years of coordinated undergraduate study at Oglethorpe; all final admission decisions rest with the Nicholas School of the Environment. A Bachelor of Arts degree is awarded by Oglethorpe University upon successful completion of one year of study at Duke; after four semesters at Duke, in which at least 48 semester units of credit are earned, these students may qualify for one of the professional master's degrees.

There are six areas of concentration for the professional master's degree programs offered by the Nicholas School of the Environment: Coastal Environmental Management; Environmental Toxicology, Chemistry, and Risk Assessment; Resource Ecology; Resource Economics and Policy; Water and Air Resources; and Forest Resource Management. The undergraduate course requirements are highly flexible for some areas of concentration; others are more stringent. All of the programs have the following requirements:

1. Completion of the Oglethorpe University core courses, including one semester of a foreign language at the second semester elementary-level or higher.
2. Training in the natural sciences or social sciences related to the student's area of interest in natural resources and environmental science.
3. Completion of at least one introductory course in calculus - either Applied Calculus or Calculus I.
4. Completion of a statistics course that includes descriptive statistics, probability distributions, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, correlation, simple linear regression and simple ANOVAs. Statistics at Oglethorpe fulfills this requirement.
5. A working knowledge of microcomputers for word processing and data analysis. Introduction to Computer Applications Software fulfills this requirement, although students with extensive experience with computers may have other options.

Qualified students who have interests outside of the structured programs of the Nicholas School of the Environment are permitted to design individual programs of study; all such individual programs are subject to approval by the Education Committee of the Nicholas School of the Environment.

Note:  Dual-degree students in environmental studies and natural resources may not use Oglethorpe financial aid assistance to attend Duke University.