Changing Communities, Changing Lives
The Community and Economic Development (CEDEV) graduate program at Penn State can help you learn how to navigate the complexities of communities and community organizations and inspire positive changes on local, regional, and national levels.
All courses in the CEDEV programs are taught by professors who are active researchers and professionals in the field, providing you with a balance of academic expertise and real-world experience. You can expect the same high-quality, academically challenging courses as those taught in the classroom, and you gain the convenience of studying whenever and wherever you want.
The CEDEV curriculum will help you develop critical-thinking skills about:
- effective decision-making in communities
- evaluating causes and consequences of economic and population change
- job creation, retention, and expansion
- entrepreneurship
- citizen participation
- land use and sustainable development
- community structure and processes that affect development and well-being
Students say that course work in this program has immediate application to their career, elected office, or volunteer activities, and has helped them make their communities stronger, more sustainable, and better places to live and work.