The following requirements for the Certificate Program are in addition to those of a student's academic major. Program requirement information is also published in the Princeton Undergraduate Announcement. By appropriate choice of courses, several of these requirements may satisfy the Program and the University distribution requirements. All courses to fulfill ENV Certificate Program requirements must be taken on a fully graded basis (no p/f) and graded as C or higher. Students interested in pursing the Certificate Program are encouraged to complete the Student Profile Form and schedule a meeting with the ENV Program Director or Undergraduate Administrator as early as possible.

Interested students must take one foundational course in ENV 201, 202 or 302 as early in their course of study as possible. Under exceptional circumstances, substitutes may be allowed, but only with prior approval by the ENV Program Director. When taken with the laboratory option (ENV 201B and 202B), these courses can fulfill the University's distribution requirement for Science and Technology with lab (STL). This option, although not required for the certificate, is recommended for students with limited background in the sciences. For those students interested in a more advanced use of quantitiative analysis, ENV 302 is recommended.

Students pursuing a Certificate in Environmental Studies are required to take four cognate courses from a minimum of three divisions of the University (i.e., engineering, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences); only one cognate may come from the students major.  In addition to cognates offered through the Environmental Studies Program, cognate courses have been identified in other academic  departments, as appropriate.

• Humanities Cognates: Courses cross-listed or offered by humanities departments, including Art and Archaeology, English, and Philosophy, as well as the School of Architecture.
• Social Science Cognates: Courses cross-listed or offered by social science departments, including Anthropology, Economics, History, Politics, and the Woodrow Wilson School.
• Natural Science Cognates:  Courses cross-listed or offered by natural science departments, including Chemistry, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Geosciences, Physics, and Molecular Biology.
• Engineering Cognates: Courses cross-listed or offered by engineering departments, including Civil and Environmental Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

The fourth course may be any ENV course (including 200-level courses) or any designated cognate course (normally at the 300 level). To review currently approved cognates, see Environmental Course Offerings. Students may petition the ENV Program Director to have additional courses approved to fulfill the cognate requirements. To be considered for cognate designation, courses must include a significant environmental component . Students are encouraged to discuss cognate choices with the Program Director early in their planning process.

A year-long Senior Colloquium is required for seniors pursuing the ENV certificate to provide guidance in the development of their senior thesis. The colloquium is noncredit and serves to supplement input that students receive from their departmental advisers by exposing their thesis topic and related research to  critique of students and faculty from other academic disciplines. Faculty lead discussions through the middle of fall term. Students present their thesis topics and results in weekly group meetings from mid-fall through the spring semester. More >>

Students seeking to earn the Certificate in Environmental Studies are required to include an environmental dimension within their departmental independent work. The environmental topic must be approved by both the ENV Program Director and the undergraduate representative of the student's department of concentration. The environmental content of the senior thesis will be reviewed as part of the Senior Thesis Colloquium. Students may consult the archive of ENV Senior Thesis Titles for a comprehensive list of ENV alumni senior theses contributions.

Students who have met the requirements of the Program and of their department will receive a certificate of proficiency in environmental studies upon graduation.