Purpose: Public administration, or the implementation of public policies by civil servants, will be central to implementing the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. And yet, few American master of public administration (MPA) programs explicitly focus on sustainable development or sustainability literacy. This study asks whether it is possible to build professional sustainability literacy within a general MPA course, specifically in a course on quantitative methods. Design/methodology/approach: Through a natural experiment conducted in three sections of the graduate course Quantitative Methods in Public Administration at UNC Wilmington, the study explores the relationship between student growth in professional sustainability literacy and a student's level of foundational sustainability literacy, pro-environmental behavior, background knowledge in statistics and their interest in sustainable development within public administration. Findings: The study finds that there is a statistically significant relationship between growth in a student's professional sustainability literacy and two variables: above average foundational sustainability literacy and a high level of interest in sustainability policies and programs. Originality/value: This study is the first to consider an embedded approach to sustainability education in the field of public administration.