In their first semester, NRSD students take courses alongside Global Environmental Policy (GEP) and other SIS students. In addition to taking the required Environment and Politics seminar, students typically take an economics course—often Environmental Economics or Intro to Economic Theory—and either an international development course or a seminar in water governance, political ecology of food and agriculture, or climate change politics. Unless already fluent, NRSD students also take a free, non-credit course in Spanish.

During their second and third semesters, which are spent at the University for Peace, NRSD students choose from an array of required and elective UPeace course offerings. At UPeace, students typically take one course at a time, offered during three-week intensive modules, and may also take additional Spanish courses. Students choose from a wide range of courses topics at UPeace, including disaster risk reduction, resource management, food security, sustainable agriculture, and water governance. Students also are able to take advantage of some courses in other programs at UPeace. Extensive field trips take students to Corcovado and Guanacaste to study sustainable development and conservation on the ground.

In addition, NRSD students can pursue a summer internship identified with support from AU and UPeace faculty in a geographic and focal area of their choice. These internships take students across the world, as close to home as Washington or as far away as Asia and Africa. 

Upon returning to SIS in their fourth semester, NRSD students finish their course requirements with three seminars and fulfill their capstone research requirement, through a significant research paper, team research practicum, or master's thesis.