The master's degree program in public policy provides students with the skills and perspectives required to formulate, implement, and evaluate public policies (government actions to address social problems). Our curriculum includes two levels of course work—an analytic foundation and a set of advanced professional courses—and can be completed in one to two years, depending on prior course work. 

Analytic Foundation

Policy professionals must draw on skills and concepts from multiple disciplines, so our analytic foundation courses provide training in economics, politics and the policy-making process, statistics, law, and ethics. In addition, because we believe that good policy analysis or management requires an understanding of how issues are affected by race, ethnicity, class, and gender, the program also includes course work designed to enhance student awareness in these areas.

Advanced Professional Training

The seven advanced core courses offer students opportunities to augment and deepen their skills through guided practice. Our "professional challenges" sequence prepares students to understand and work effectively in various political and organizational contexts. In our course on simulations and advanced software applications, students develop computer-based skills for modeling and analyzing problems of policy and management. A financial accounting requirement ensures that graduates are prepared to work with financial statements in budget analysis positions or program management. We also include in-depth training on local policy making, with opportunities for students to work with local organizations on current community-level issues. 

Multidisciplinary skill training comes together in the two-semester Integrative Core, in which students apply various analytic frameworks to a series of current policy problems, using real-world data and interacting with practicing policy analysts and managers. The Integrative Core culminates in the student's own policy analysis conducted for an external client. With faculty assistance, students select the topic and client, using the project as an opportunity to develop substantive expertise in a particular policy area such as education, the environment, or health. The two elective courses can also be used to build substantive knowledge or alternatively, to deepen analytical capacity in areas such as statistics or economics.