A public policy school or school of public affairs is typically a university program, institution, or professional school of public policy, public administration, political science, international relations, security studies, management, urban planning, urban studies, intelligence studies, global studies, emergency management, public affairs, nonprofit management, criminology, and the sociology of law.
Public policy schools typically train students in two streams. The more practical stream treats the master's degree as a terminal degree, which trains students to work as policy analysts or practitioners in governments, government relations, think tanks, business-to-government marketing/sales, and consulting firms. A more theoretical stream aims to train students who are aiming to go on to complete doctoral studies with the goal of becoming professors of public policy, political science in general, or researchers.
Curriculum Public policy schools offer a wide range of public policy degrees. At the undergraduate level, universities, especially research-intensive universities may offer a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree with majors or concentrations in public policy, public administration, political science, international relations, policy studies or any other differently named but content-wise identical major or concentration. These undergraduate degrees are typically offered by a university's public administration or political science faculties whether it be part of a public policy school or a college of arts and sciences. Well known Master's degrees within this academic field include the Master of Public Policy (MPP), the Master of Public Administration (MPA), the Master of Public Affairs (MPAff), the Master of Public Service (MPS), the Master of Urban Planning (MUP), the Master of International Affairs (MIA), and Master of Arts or Master of Sciences in International Relations, Political Science, or International Security, or other sub-fields of political science. Schools with an international and interdisciplinary focus may award a Master of Arts degree in International Policy Studies. Some schools teaching nonprofit studies as its own field of study may offer a Master of Nonprofit Organizations or a Master of Public Administration in Nonprofit Management. In the field of criminology and the sociology of law, some offer bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in criminology, law and society, administration of justice, legal studies, and criminal justice. Some schools also offer Executive master's degrees in the same topics for mid-career individuals and a Master of Professional Studies degree to signify that the education takes an applied rather than theoretical approach. Other universities teach urban planning and confer professional degrees such as the Master of Urban Planning (M.U.P.), Master of City Planning (M.C.P.), Master of Regional Planning (M.R.P.), Master of Urban and Regional Planning (M.U.R.P.) to qualify students and alumni to work as urban planners.
Doctoral degrees include PhDs in public policy, policy studies and public administration, or in political science with a concentration in any of the aforementioned sub-fields, as well as the Doctor of Public Administration (DPA). Some schools offer relatively short-duration certificate programs aimed at working policy analysts, government managers, public executives, or any other working professional who needs this education regardless of employment sector.
In North America, students typically pursue a graduate public policy degree after having completed an undergraduate degree, either in a public administration or political science field. Some programs admit students with any undergraduate degree; however, students without a background in public administration or political science may be required to do qualifying courses in these areas. Some universities allow students to complete both degrees concurrently. North American public policy programs are generally located in an autonomous graduate or professional school within a larger university, while at others combine both graduate and undergraduate programs into a single semi-autonomous constituent college.
While degrees in Public Policy and Public Administration at most universities are generally taught at the graduate level (master's and PhD), some undergraduate degree program majors, concentrations, and minors either as standalone degrees or as concentrations within a degree in political science or international relations still exist, especially at research universities and professional schools where research, graduate, and undergraduate faculty overlap and/or have close cooperation unlike liberal arts colleges (particularly liberal arts colleges in the United States) that focus on the more theoretical and philosophical sides of political science rather than the applied and administrative side of political science.
Notable institutions
North America
Canada Balsillie School of International Affairs, a joint initiative between CIGI, University of Waterloo, and Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario Master of Public Service at University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario University of Ottawa's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, Ottawa, Ontario The School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia The Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University, Montréal, Quebec The School of Policy Studies at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario The School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta School of Public Administration at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia Master in Public Policy and Public Administration (MPPPA), Department of Political Science at Concordia University, Montréal, Quebec Department of Political Science at the , Montréal, Quebec Master of Public Affairs, Department of Political Science at , Québec City, Quebec at the , Québec City, Quebec Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan The Glendon School of Public and International Affairs at York University, Toronto, Ontario Department of Politics and Public Administration at Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Ontario The School of Public Policy at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia The School of Public Administration at the University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia
United States Public policy schools in the United States tackle policy analysis differently. The Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago has a more quantitative and economics approach to policy, the Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon uses computational and technology-driven methods, while the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University has a more political science and leadership based approach. The Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs provides traditional public policy training with multidisciplinary concentrations available in the environmental sciences and nonprofit management. Moreover, the University of Illinois at Chicago offers public policy training that emphasizes the stages of decision-making in formulating policy (e.g. agenda setting), as well as the importance of framing effects and cognitive limits in policy formation.
Schools of public policy that have met professional standards of education and quality in the United States are accredited by the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA): The Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies and Graduate Program in Public Management at Johns Hopkins University Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration at The George Washington University Princeton School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University Ford Dorsey Master's in International Policy at Stanford University John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University School of International Service and School of Public Affairs at American University Institute for Public Affairs at Cornell University Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley Luskin School of Public Affairs at the University of California, Los Angeles Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan Harry S Truman School of Public Affairs at the University of Missouri Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University UCR School of Public Policy at the University of California, Riverside Center for Public Administration and Policy at Virginia Tech Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University H. John Heinz III College of Information Systems and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts at the Georgia Institute of Technology O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University Bloomington John Glenn School of Public Affairs at Ohio State University Arkansas State University College of Liberal Arts and Communication Frederick S. Pardee RAND Graduate School at the RAND Corporation Lokey School of Business and Public Policy at Mills College Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin Martin School of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Kentucky Master of Public Administration Program (UMPA) at the University of Miami Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at Baruch College Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University Monterey Institute of International Studies at Middlebury College Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the University at Albany, SUNY Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University School of Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Helms School of Government at Liberty University Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California School of Public Policy at Oregon State University The Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia Department of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, College Park School of Public Policy at Pepperdine University University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Mexico Public Administration Division at Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, Mexico City Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, Mexico City