Integrated Sustainability (BA)
Bachelor of Arts in Integrated Sustainability
Create a sustainable future
Pursue a career in the rapidly expanding field of sustainability with a Bachelor of Arts in Integrated Sustainability. This interdisciplinary program equips you with the skills and confidence to protect and regenerate both human and natural communities.
Program highlights
- Interdisciplinary approach: Combines natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities to foster positive change supporting human and ecological well-being.
- Flexible learning pathways: Offers individualized learning experiences, allowing you to earn professional credentials such as a Permaculture Design Certificate and a Certificate of Sustainability Leadership.
- Global opportunities: Participate in professional internships or study abroad programs in countries like Chile and Bhutan.
- Specializations: Choose a minor in Ecosystem Science and Stewardship or concentrate in areas like Humans and Resilient Communities or Sustainable Business.
Real-world experience
Our students have interned with leading Colorado organizations, including:
- High-Country Conservation Center
- City of Aspen’s Environmental Health and Sustainability Department
- Highwater Farm
- Town of Vail Environmental Sustainability Department
- Walking Mountains Science Center
- Yampa Valley Sustainability Council
- Eagle Valley Land Trust
Program delivery options
- In-person and virtual
- Fully virtual
Career pathways
Graduates have launched careers in various fields, including:
- Climate change adaptation
- Energy conservation and renewable energy
- Regenerative food systems
- Land and water conservation
- Landscape design and management
- Environmental journalism and communications
- Nonprofit leadership
- Sustainable business consulting
- Community organizing
- Environmental and place-based education
- Waste reduction, composting, and the circular economy
Add a Minor
Consider adding a business minor to this bachelor’s program. You’ll take classes from the School of Business and learn to function effectively in the business setting while embedding your efforts within a larger framework of sustainable thought and action.
Quick Insights
- Increase community resilience with applied systems thinking
- Conduct original research and present at annual conference
- Average 12:1 student to faculty ratio
The Integrated Sustainability (BA) is offered at:
- Virtual: With two mandatory in-person Permaculture Design courses (summer week-long sessions available)
- Breckenridge: In-person & virtual
- Spring Valley at Glenwood Springs: In-person & virtual
- Steamboat Springs: In-person & virtual
- Vail Valley at Edwards: In-person & virtual
Program Learning Outcomes are what we expect each student will learn while earning a degree or certificate. Meeting these learning outcomes is how we assess our performance as a college. Our learning outcomes support both important career skills and future success as a student.
Upon completing the Integrated Sustainability (BA) program, CMC students will be able to:
- Recognize humans are part of nature.
- Identify how Earth’s systems interact and change.
- Design social systems that synergize with Earth’s systems.
- Drive social change that advances sustainability.
- Develop capacity to successfully compete for careers in the sustainability field.
Careers in Sustainability — Put Your Sustainability Studies Degree to Work
Develop knowledge and skills while making connections with internships and projects at CMC
With your sustainability degree, you'll be able to launch a career in:
- Business management
- Consulting
- Energy policy
- Environmental education
- International development
- Local, state, and federal government
- Marketing and communications for the "green economy"
- Public administration
- Public lands management
- Sustainable food
- Urban planning
Graduates of Colorado Mountain College’s Bachelor of Arts program in Sustainability Studies have many career opportunities. Our students undertake a rigorous program of study that prepares them to understand many complex challenges and opportunities relevant to building a more sustainable local and global society. Our graduates work toward achieving economic and social vitality within a context of a healthy environment. Through cutting edge coursework, extracurricular activities, internships, research projects, and more, CMC provides Sustainability Studies graduates a platform to become successful sustainability professionals.
The following guide offers a sampling of resources to help graduates as well as prospective and current students begin to explore career options. Paid and unpaid internships and volunteer opportunities offer emerging sustainability professionals the opportunity to hone their skills and develop experience relevant to paid employment in sustainability. Therefore, this site offers access to information on both paid and unpaid employment as well as internships and volunteer opportunities. It also offers access to general career advice for those seeking sustainability-oriented employment.
Sustainability Career Advice and Options
- Career Services at CMC: Describes the services available to you as a CMC student or graduate. Go to Career Preparation for advice on resume and cover letter writing, networking and more.
Internships
Although an internship experience is not required for graduation, an internship can be an especially valuable way to develop your professional skills and resume. A number of our graduates have obtained paid employment with organizations for which they served as interns.
Others have landed sustainability jobs with other organizations based on the skills they developed as interns. See CMC's Internship Program page for further information.
Job and Internship Posting Sites
- Acre: Sustainability and environmentally oriented job postings; includes positions in corporate social responsibility.
- ZipRecruiter/Sustainability: See employment postings related to sustainability on ZipRecruiter.
- Green Dream Jobs: Job and internship postings; searchable by city, U.S. state, skill level (including “internship”), designated categories of jobs, and/or keyword.
- GreenJobSearch: Extensive listing of green jobs and internships; searchable by keyword, designated categories of jobs, state, and/or zip code.
- Guide to Green Careers: Offers job and internship postings as well as very helpful general advice about sustainability-oriented careers and career development.
- B Corp Directory: Benefit corporations or "B Corps" are businesses that have included in their charters institutional missions that go beyond simply making profit. These organizations are in the business of benefiting society and/or the environment in addition to making money.
Database of Sustainability Related Academic Programs
The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) provides a database of academic programs that emphasize one or more aspect of sustainability. This database is a good place to start if you are searching for information about graduate degrees (Masters's and Ph.D. programs) that you might pursue beyond graduation with your B.A. in Sustainability Studies from CMC.
Volunteer Opportunities
As a student in Sustainability Studies at CMC, you'll hear in your classes, from student clubs, and through e-mailed communications about many opportunities to volunteer to assist with events and projects of local nonprofits, businesses, schools, and municipal governments.
Volunteering offers you valuable real-world experience that can help you build an excellent resume as well as an excellent opportunity to expand your professional network.
Volunteering is a great way to put your finger on the pulse of what's happening in sustainability all around you, and serving as a volunteer helps you learn by doing about what it takes make things happen in the realm of sustainability. So don't be a stranger in your local sustainability community! Volunteer, and begin to work your way along your sustainability career path.
Related Degrees
Program News
From the Great Lakes to the Rocky Mountains: An Interview with Liona Lutes
Introducing Liona Lutes, a newly Colorado resident who traded Michigan’s Great Lakes for our Rocky Mountains to study within CMC’s Integrated Sustainability program. Since arriving last fall, Liona has jumped headfirst into the world of sustainability earning her Permaculture certification, taking the lead on the Sustainable Libraries Initiative at the Spring Valley campus, and collaborating with the AASHE-STARS team. All in just a few months. Total rockstar energy. Her vision? To weave together all campus libraries into a more collaborative sustainability effort through our “third spaces”, those beloved community hubs where learning, connection, and resources intersect. One of the first… Read more: From the Great Lakes to the Rocky Mountains: An Interview with Liona Lutes
Permaculture Design Courses
Permaculture Design Courses for All If you want to see the soul of our sustainability program, look no further than our Permaculture track. This isn’t a theory class, but more like a movement. Permaculture (permanent + agriculture) is an ethical design system that asks us humans to work with nature, not against it. In these courses, students (and the public) get joyously, productively dirty. Participants aren’t solely reading about food systems- they are actively interacting with and building them. They work closely with flora, fauna, and the living soil, designing pollinator gardens, medicinal guilds, studying food forests, learning to capture… Read more: Permaculture Design Courses
What is AASHE-STARS?
As our new school year kicks off, we wanted to re-introduce our Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System, also known as STARS! STARS is the most widely used system for colleges and universities worldwide to measure their sustainability performance. This system was developed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). AASHE helps institutions like us to track progress across teaching, campus operations, engagement, and planning. In 2024, we proudly received our first “Silver” rating. STARS compares our performance with peer institutions to earn public recognition through Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum ratings. Our goal for… Read more: What is AASHE-STARS?
Fernando Almanza: Building Resilience Through Sustainability
As Deputy Emergency Manager for Eagle County, Fernando Almanza helps communities prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters. From wildfire planning to emergency response coordination, his work focuses on building stronger, more resilient communities.
That mission led him to Colorado Mountain College’s Bachelor of Arts in Integrated Sustainability program. Read more: Fernando Almanza: Building Resilience Through Sustainability
Lauran Garcia: The Intersection of Interests
Lauran Garcia had a successful and demanding career in the restaurant business. The birth of her son inspired her to return to college and pursue work more rooted in her values and community.
Lauran looked to CMC. “I wanted something accessible and local and affordable,” she reflects.
Her studies at CMC afforded her two internships: a research-focused one with the Aspen Global Change Institute and a governmental-focused one with the City of Aspen.
Read more: Lauran Garcia: The Intersection of Interests
Zac Sutherland: Interconnections
Zac Sutherland is a systems thinker. It’s an approach he explored in CMC’s Integrated Sustainability Program.
Previous to his study, Zac noticed a tendency to view economics, environmental issues, and social equity through separate lenses. “It never really sat right with me,” he says. “And it wasn’t until I started taking these courses that it all just clicked. There are all these interconnections between them. If you put too much pressure on one system, everything else is going to feel it in in some way, shape, or form,” he describes. Read more: Zac Sutherland: Interconnections
Christina Matzl: When Art Meets Sustainability
When it came time to consider going back to school, Colorado Mountain College’s Integrated Sustainability program was the perfect fit.
During the program, Christina and her fellow students put a close eye on CMC itself as a case study project. She collected data on water usage across the college. She began to see the potential of sharing data and the changes it could bring. Read more: Christina Matzl: When Art Meets Sustainability
Rory Johnson: Second Chances
Having lived in the Roaring Fork Valley for most of his life, he‘d always known about CMC and decided to give it a try. That choice eventually earned him a bachelor’s degree in Sustainability Studies from CMC. “I still have a bunch of debt I’m paying off from my last university and I didn’t even graduate from there. I didn’t take out any debt to attend CMC,” Johnson said. Read more: Rory Johnson: Second Chances
Sustainability Highlights
Bear Park Permaculture Center
Visit our gardens and center for permaculture and sustainable thinking, design, and practice.
Sustainability at CMC
At Colorado Mountain College, sustainability is more than a goal—it’s a way of life.