Sustainability Meets Business: HEC Paris & Columbia Launch Double Degree Program

HEC Paris has announced a new double degree cooperatively with Columbia University’s Climate School.

Finding it hard to settle on just one B-school and — perhaps even harder — just one program? If like an increasing number of prospective MBAs you’re interested in a sustainability path, an intriguing new collaboration of two of the world’s most well-renowned institutions may interest you.

HEC Paris and Columbia University have joined forces to launch a double degree program, granting students both a Master in Management from HEC Paris and a Master of Arts in Climate and Society from Columbia University.

Their program is now accepting applications from students enrolled in HEC Paris’ MIM’s first year, and those selected for the double degree will start at Columbia in August of 2024.

HEC PARIS, GAP YEAR, THEN COLUMBIA CLIMATE SCHOOL

“The idea came up through conversations between leaders of the two schools and the shared vision that the current climate and environmental crisis is requiring graduates equipped to deal with systemic problems at global scale. Hard sciences, business policy and social sciences are necessary academic foundations for future change makers in the private and public sectors. An international and cross-cultural outlook is also a must to tackle implications of planetary boundaries,” François Collin, chief sustainability officer at HEC tells Poets&Quants.

Students can complete the double degree in 2-3 years. The program kicks off with year one at HEC Paris, and there’s two routes students can take from here – they can take all of the courses in the Pre Master year and the first year of the Master (M1) over four full-time semesters, or they cut right to the M1 in their first year, taking just two full-time semesters.

The HEC Paris courses focus on general business content, with a heavy emphasis on quant skills and environmental/social responsibility.

A ONE-OF-A-KIND PROGRAM

The next step of the double degree is the same for both pathways: students are encouraged to take a gap year and land an internship, job, or other work experience before starting up at Columbia’s Climate School.

After the gap year, students go for the MS in Climate and Society at Columbia for three semesters in New York – and what better a place to study climate change than the nation’s first climate school? The curriculum here is focused on interdisciplinary problem solving for how to address the climate crisis, combining expertise from different departments across the university.

In a press release for the double degree, Dr. Mingfang Ting, Professor of Climate and Co-Senior Director for Education at the Columbia Climate School says, “Columbia Climate School strives to develop a diverse learning community deeply committed to addressing the challenges the world faces as a result of climate change. The program is particularly proud of the dynamic academic backgrounds represented in the degree, which includes students from the social sciences, natural sciences and humanities. HEC Paris students will build upon our strengths and bring a unique lens to our interdisciplinary learning environment given their strong foundation in management from an esteemed global business school.”

This program is truly one of a kind, Collin says.

“We are not aware of any other program where students determined to work in sustainability may acquire so many different skills and knowledge from different disciplines, build a network with future leaders and meet inspiring role models,” he says.