Sustainable Development
The Sustainable Development major prepares students for impactful careers addressing today’s most pressing global development challenges. You’ll gain the professional skills to design, manage and evaluate programs and policies that promote inclusive, sustainable solutions.
Training includes advanced quantitative and qualitative methods, human-centered design, impact evaluation, and the latest approaches to environmental sustainability. Students also work directly with partner organizations through hands-on, project-based field experiences.
Applications for the Master of Global Affairs program are now open for a Fall 2027 start. Apply by December 15, 2026.
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Career Paths
Your classroom learning paired with hands-on field work will prepare you to address global challenges like poverty, inequality and injustice, and climate change. Sustainable development students go on to become:
- Best Use of Resources Advisor, Nutrition, International Rescue Committee, Washington, D.C.
- Program Manager, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, D.C.
- Senior Electric Vehicle Policy Specialist, Transportation and Fuels, Great Plains Institute, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Economics Research Consultant, Climate and Sustainable Development Division, Inter-American Development Bank, Washington, D.C.
- Sustainability and ESG Analyst, Deloitte, McLean, Virginia
- Associate Policy Analyst, Migration Policy Institute, Brussels, Belgium
Explore the Curriculum
Core Courses
9 credit hours
All master of global affairs students complete the following foundational courses:
- Integral Human Development (3 credits | Semester 1)
- Economics of Growth and Development (3 credits | Semester 2)
- One approved Research Methods course (fulfilled by Policy Evaluation major course)
- One approved Global Politics course (3 credits)
Major Courses
16 credit hours
Along with the core requirements, MGA students majoring in sustainable development take the following courses:
- Foundations of Sustainable Development (3 credits | Semester 1)
- Quantitative Analysis (3 credits | Semester 1)
- Quant Lab (1 credit | Semester 1)
- Microeconomics (3 credits | Semester 1)
- Policy Evaluation (3 credits | Semester 2)
- Environmental Policy (3 credits | Semester 3)
Elective Courses
12 credit hours
Where do you want to make an impact? With direction from faculty and the director of your chosen major, major directors, you will select elective courses that help you craft an academic experience tailored to your unique career goals. Select from a rich array of classes offered both at the Keough School and across the University of Notre Dame.
Field Experience: Integration Lab
9 credit hours
You will also get extensive hands-on practice through the Integration Lab (i-Lab), a fully-funded field experience that will equip you to work collaboratively with practitioners and policymakers, communities and the private and public sectors to identify solutions to global challenges.
Keough School students have worked on a wide range of global challenges, such as:
- Keough School students have worked on a wide range of global challenges, such as:
- Expanding the effectiveness of humanitarian cash transfer programs following emergency situations in Bangladesh and Uganda in partnership with Catholic Relief Services.
- Assisting refugees and others hurt by conflict in the Middle East with the American East Refugee Aid in Lebanon.
- Driving large-scale behavior change in India’s and Mexico’s housing and construction markets through Habitat for Humanity International.
- Improving school performance with Enseña Chile by assessing leadership traits and skills among principals and school leaders to enhance outcomes.
- Promoting educational and financial inclusion of those held back by gender norms through a partnership with Oxfam in Cambodia.
