The Graduate Program in Studies of the Future was founded in 1975 at the Clear Lake campus of the University of Houston System. The campus is located in southeast Houston, next to the NASA Johnson Space Center amidst a growing aerospace, computer, and petrochemical industry. The program is an interdisciplinary undertaking housed in the School of Human Sciences and Humanities and involving other faculty members from professional fields like education, business and public administration. Approximately 60 students are enrolled in the program, and five to seven of them graduate each year.
Most students work full-time and attend classes in the evening.
The field of futures studies is a relatively new professional discipline, arising in the 1950s and 1960s in response to the growing complexity of organizational life and world affairs. The tools and techniques were invented in think tanks and activist organizations in order to understand and respond to the rapidly changing and largely unpredictable future. The field has grown due to increasing awareness of the long-term consequences of population and economic growth on our planet. The field distinguishes itself from traditional forecasting and planning disciplines in four ways . First , futures studies considers a longer time horizon than most forecasters do.