Price School of Public Policy

Graduate Degrees

Master of Public Policy

The Master of Public Policy (MPP) program is designed to prepare students for careers as professional policy analysts. Through an interdisciplinary curriculum and real world experience, students gain an understanding of the policy process, and develop the capacity to formulate, analyze and implement public policy.

The MPP degree is offered at the University Park Campus only.

Requirements for Admission

Candidates for admission must have maintained a minimum B (3.0) average during their undergraduate degree work and attain a score of at least 500 on the verbal and at least 500 on the quantitative sections of the GRE. Exceptions to these requirements are allowed if justified by outstanding work experience, letters of recommendation, or demonstrated improvement in academic performance during undergraduate studies.

Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution and have a basic competence in descriptive and inferential statistics. This prerequisite may be met in one of two ways: (1) entering students must have passed an undergraduate inferential statistics class, with a grade of “B” or better, at an approved university within three years of matriculation, and must pass the MPP lab associated with PPD 554 Foundations of Policy Analysis, or (2) take PPD 502x Statistical Foundations for Public Management and Policy and complete with a grade of “B” or better. If students select to take PPD 502x, the units associated with this class may not be used toward the MPP degree.

Degree Requirements

Students are required to complete 48 units of graduate work, with 28 units of core and 20 elective units divided between management, analytic and specialization areas.

Required core courses		Units
PPD 500	Intersectoral Leadership	2
PPD 501ab	Economics for Policy, Planning and Development	2-2
PPD 554	Foundations of Public Policy Analysis	2
PPD 555	Public Policy Formulation and Implementation	4
PPD 557	Modeling and Operations Research	4
PPD 558	Multivariate Statistical Analysis	4
PPD 560	Methods for Policy Analysis	4
PPD 561ab*	Policy Analysis Practicum	1, 3

*During a student’s final semester of the program, the Policy Analysis Practicum is required as a component of the program’s 48 units of course work. The practicum is an opportunity for students to apply their analytic skills to a current problem for an actual client. Admission to the practicum is granted on the approval of the MPP director, and normally requires prior completion of most required courses.

Electives

Students complete 4 units of management elective, 4 units of analytic elective and 12 units of specialization elective. These electives typically are selected to support specialization in a substantive policy area (e.g., environment or community economic development).

Management elective (choose 4 units)		Units
PPD 516	Financial Accounting for Health Care Organizations	4
PPD 541	Public Financial Management and Budgeting	4
PPD 545	Human Behavior in Public Organizations	4
PPD 654	Information Technology Management in the Public Sector	4
PPD 656	Political Management: Theory and Applied Techniques	4
PPD 661	Intergovernmental Management: Local Perspective	4
PPD 662	Intergovernmental Management: State Perspective	4
PPD 675	Nonprofit Management and Leadership	4
PPD 687	Strategic Managment in the Nonprofit Sector	4
PPD 690	Alternative Dispute Resolution	4

analytic elective (choose 4 units)		Units
PPD 542	Policy and Program Evaluation	4
PPD 587	Risk Analysis	4
PPD 617	Urban Demography and Growth	4
PPD 647	Finance of the Public Sector	4

In addition, students take 12 units of additional electives selected by the students with the advice of the academic adviser or director of the MPP program. These electives typically are taken in an area of policy specialization, such as: community economic development, education policy, environmental policy, health, infrastructure, international policy and development, media and communications, philanthropy and nonprofit, and transportation.

Students may not take more than 12 course units outside of the Price School of Public Policy without written consent of the director of the MPP program.