Penn State’s commitment to education around the SDGs is evidenced by the number of employees who conduct research on the SDGs, the number of courses and degree program that address the SDGs, and by the sustainability leadership, sustainable food systems, and renewable energy and sustainability systems degree programs.

Of the 2,549 employees who conduct research, 1,800 (70%) are engaged in sustainability research. See the SDG Researchers 2021 spreadsheet for details.

Examples of how courses address the SDGs:

  • Over 400 courses related to SDG2 were offered during the academic year
  • SDG14 courses addressing ocean acidification were offered by philosophy, meteorology, and religious studies
  • SDG11 is addressed in supply chain management, geography, architectural engineering, and polymer engineering science courses.

Course Descriptions & SDGs spreadsheet reflects courses which were identified by sorting and filtering for search terms in the entire course bulletin. A sampling of SDG search terms used to filter from the course bulletin:

  • SDG 2: food
  • SDG 11: diversity, community
  • SDG 14: ocean, lake, pond
  • SDG 15: biodiversity
  • SDG 17: civil society

See the Course Descriptions & SDGs spreadsheet for the results.