On October 2 the Illinois Board of Higher Education approved a new Bachelor of Science degree in Renewable Energy at Illinois State University. With the increased price of crude oil and political instability in the large oil-producing regions of the world, the United States has begun to search more seriously for alternatives to fossil fuels. To help meet this need, ISU developed a renewable energy major. It is a broad-based program addressing the social, economic, and technical issues that graduates will encounter in the emerging field of renewable energy. It is based on a foundation of existing courses in several departments but will be strengthened by the development of new courses in the Departments of Agriculture, Economics, and Technology. “This renewable energy program is the first of its kind in the nation,” said David Loomis, Professor of Economics. “We expect a large demand for the graduates of this program.”

Students will be able to choose between two tracks—a technology track or an economics/public policy track. Students will be able to enroll in the new major in the fall 2008 semester.