How do Tulane and the University of Oregon compare for undergraduate sustainability programs?

For a student seeking the broader, more established undergraduate sustainability ecosystem, the University of Oregon has the edge; Tulane is especially compelling for sustainability tied to coastal resilience, urban systems, and the Gulf South. Oregon offers both BA and BS pathways in Environmental Studies, while Tulane’s Environmental Studies program is structured as a coordinate major completed alongside a primary major. That distinction makes Oregon more straightforward for someone who wants environmental study to be the central focus of their degree.

Oregon’s program benefits from the university’s Institute for a Sustainable Environment and a campus culture with extensive coursework and activity around environmental policy, climate, conservation, sustainable communities, and environmental justice. Its Pacific Northwest location also supports direct engagement with forests, watersheds, public lands, and regional environmental organizations. Students can connect sustainability to science, policy, planning, business, and humanities fields without needing to build their academic path around a second major.

Tulane offers a more place-based approach. New Orleans is an unusually rich setting for studying sea-level rise, hurricanes, flooding, environmental health, disaster recovery, energy equity, and the relationship between climate change and race or income. Tulane’s Center for Public Service and community-engaged culture can make local work a meaningful part of an environmental education, especially for students interested in applied climate adaptation rather than only traditional conservation.

The coordinate-major structure at Tulane can be a real advantage for a student who wants to pair environmental studies with public health, political science, architecture, economics, engineering, or another discipline. Oregon provides more depth and flexibility within environmental studies itself; Tulane provides a distinctive interdisciplinary lens shaped by one of the country’s most climate-vulnerable and innovative cities.