From the outset, the IES has been driven by student interest and guided by industry advice. WWU now offers two energy minors, a BA degree in energy policy and management, and an energy track in the electrical engineering major. The next key step is a BS degree in energy science and technology.

Among the key challenges in designing this program is to make it interdisciplinary in the right way, i.e., educating graduates to be broad and deep. Graduates with interdisciplinary majors are often seen as generalists, lacking in solid skills and tools that can meet immediate needs in a profession. On the other hand, graduates in technical majors are often too narrow and theoretical, lacking broader, system-level understanding needed in the growing clean energy economy.