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.
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. [1] [2] 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.
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): [5]
In Europe, the LUISS School of Government offers a multidisciplinary approach to public policy combining economics, political science, new public management, and policy analysis, while the French institute of political studies Sciences Po complements these core disciplines with organizational sociology, human security, political economy, and leadership.
The European Commission through its Erasmus Mundus Programme has funded the Erasmus Mundus Master Program in Public Policy [9] since 2007. This program brings together four leading policy-oriented schools in Eurorpe: The IBEI (Spain), Central European University (Hungary), the International Institute of Social Studies of the Erasmus University Rotterdam (The Netherlands) and the Department of Politics at the University of York (United Kingdom).
The Master of Public Policy (MPP), is one of several public policy degrees. An MPP is a master's-level professional degree that provides training in policy analysis and program evaluation at public policy schools. The MPP program places a focus on the systematic analysis of issues related to public policy and the decision processes associated with them. This includes training in the role of economic and political factors in public decision-making and policy formulation; microeconomic analysis of policy options and issues; resource allocation and decision modeling; cost/benefit analysis; statistical methods; and various applications to specific public policy topics. MPP recipients serve or have served in the public sector, at the international, national, subnational, and local levels and the private sector.
Sciences Po or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies, is a private and public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of grande école and the legal status of grand établissement. The university's undergraduate program is taught on the Paris campus as well as on the decentralized campuses in Dijon, Le Havre, Menton, Nancy, Poitiers and Reims, each with their own academic program focused on a geopolitical part of the world. While Sciences Po historically specialized in political science, it progressively expanded to other social sciences such as economics, law and sociology.
Sciences Po Strasbourg - Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Strasbourg is a Grande école located in Strasbourg, France. It was founded on 9 October 1945, with the IEP Paris . Since 1 January 2009, it is part of University of Strasbourg, the second largest university in France. Its current director is Jean-Philippe Heurtin. In 2024, Sciences Po Strasbourg was ranked 2nd of French schools of political science by Studiesadvisor.
Institut d'études politiques de Bordeaux, also known as Sciences Po Bordeaux, is a French grande école located on the university campus of Pessac, Bordeaux. It is attached to the University of Bordeaux. Established in 1948, Sciences Po Bordeaux is one of the ten Institutes of Political Studies in France.
The Grenoble Institute of Political Studies, also known as Sciences Po Grenoble, is a French "grande école" of political science and more broadly of social sciences located in the campus of the University of Grenoble in Grenoble, France. It is administratively a subsidiary of the Université Grenoble Alpes.
The Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs is a public policy and planning school at the University of Minnesota, a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is named after Hubert H. Humphrey, former Vice President of the United States and presidential candidate. The school is located on the West Bank of the University of Minnesota, which is also home to the University of Minnesota Law School and Carlson School of Management in Minneapolis. The Humphrey School is accredited by the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA).
Paul Cézanne University was a public research university based in the heart of Provence, in both Aix-en-Provence and Marseille. It was one of the three Universities of Aix-Marseille and was part of the Academy of Aix and Marseille. Its weight was considerable in the French university landscape. The university bore the name of Paul Cézanne, a prominent French artist and Post-Impressionist painter, who attended its law school from 1858 to 1861.
The School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) at Virginia Tech offers graduate and undergraduate education in the fields of public administration, public policy, international affairs, urban affairs, and urban & regional planning. It has three campuses throughout Virginia: Arlington; Blacksburg and Richmond.
The Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) is one of 17 schools comprising the University of Pittsburgh. Founded in 1957 to study national and international public administration, GSPIA prides itself on its "Local to Global" distinction. As of 2018, it is one of only two policy schools with programs in the top 20 for both International Relations and City Management and Urban Policy. The former mayor of Pittsburgh, Bill Peduto, is a GSPIA alumnus.
The Schar School of Policy and Government is the public policy school of George Mason University, a public research university in the Commonwealth of Virginia near Washington, D.C.
Kalypso Aude Nicolaïdis is a Franco-Greek academic, currently Professor of International Relations and Director of the Center for International Studies at Oxford University, England. She teaches in the areas of European integration, international relations, international political economy, negotiation and game theory and research methods as University Lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Relations. In 2020, Nicolaïdis joined the School of Transnational Governance at the European University Institute as a full time professor.
The Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University houses the Departments of Criminal Justice & Criminology, Economics, and Public Management & Policy, School of Social Work, and the Urban Studies Institute. Georgia State University is the largest university in the state of Georgia.
The Otto Suhr Institute for Political Science is a prestigious research institute of the Free University of Berlin. It is the leading academic institution for political science in Germany, and one of the most highly rated in the world. It is named after Otto Suhr, a former mayor of Berlin and is the successor of the German Academy for Politics.
The Trachtenberg School, officially the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration (TSPPPA), is the graduate public policy school in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C.
The Bush School of Government & Public Service is an academic college of Texas A&M University founded in 1997 under former President George H. W. Bush's philosophy that "public service is a noble calling." Since then, the Bush School has continued to reflect that notion in curriculum, research, and student experience and has become a leading international affairs, political science, and public affairs institution.
National Dong Hwa University (NDHU) is a national research university located in Hualien, Taiwan. Established in 1994, NDHU is widely ranked as Top 10% university in Taiwan by THE, QS, U.S. News, which offers sixth widest range of disciplines in Taiwan, including the sciences, engineering, computer science, environmental studies, oceanography, law, arts, design, humanities, anthropology, social sciences, education sciences, music, and business.
Isidro Morales Moreno is a professor and researcher in political science as well as the director of Graduate School of Government and Public Policy (EGAP), State of Mexico Campus.
Jack Wayne Meek is University of La Verne Academy Professor and Professor Emeritus of Public Administration at the College of Law and Public Service at the University of La Verne., where he previously served as Director of Center Research for the College of Business and Public Management. He curruently offers and annual lecture for Public Service and Law Students at the University of La Verne.
NDHU School of Management is the business school of National Dong Hwa University (NDHU), a national research university in Hualien, Taiwan. Established in 1995, NDHU SOM awards the undergraduate, MSc in Finance, MSc in Accounting, MIM, MBA, MBA in International Business, MBA in Logistic Management, EMBA, and PhD in Business Administration, as well as dual degree programs with institutions throughout the world.