The University of Maryland, College Park, works with numerous federal agencies, state and local governments, and private conservation and policy groups to advance public education, awareness, and responsible policy on environmental issues. The University itself houses four colleges dedicated to the advancement of science and science policy and numerous centers, including the Environmental Compliance Consortium and the National Center for Smart Growth, which promote research, teaching, and dialogue on issues related to environmental policy, ecological security, sustainability, and development.

OEP has continually sought opportunities to develop executive programs that advance and extend the University's commitment to education and training in environmental policy. In 1994, working with EPA's Environmental Finance Center , OEP developed a series of case studies in environmental finance, which are still regularly distributed by EPA to local government practitioners and are used in the School of Public Policy 's curriculum. Working with the Universities of New Mexico and Tennessee , OEP sponsored a three university, two-day distance learning conference in 1996 on Innovations in Environmental Finance for the academic and practitioner communities at each site. Finally, OEP began a six-course, eighteen-credit, semester-based certificate program in Environmental Policy for the Maryland Department of the Environment in Baltimore . Unfortunately, due to statewide budget cuts, this program has been put on hold.

OEP is well-suited to provide federal agencies and private organizations professional development in current environmental policy and related issues. Today, the environment is one of the major issues faced by not only government, but private industry as well. OEP develops up-to-date programs, utilizing a wide network of resources, including renowned scholar-practitioners from several of the University's colleges and departments, like the Department of Environmental Science and Policy that provide knowledge and training on the implications of environmental research and policy.