Public Policy — Degree Requirements
The program involves two years of full-time coursework followed by a part-time course of study consisting of electives (third year) and dissertation research and writing (fourth year and beyond), for a total of 76 credits.
Requirements include
- Completion of nine interdisciplinary core courses and five research and quantitative methods laboratory courses (42 credits).
- Successful performance in a two-part comprehensive examination taken by the end of the second year.
- Completion of an additional 24 credit hours (8 courses) in a combination of electives and internship work.
- Completion of a doctoral dissertation (10 credits).
Students who enter the program already holding an appropriate master’s degree may petition the Graduate Program Director and Dean of Graduate Studies to waive up to 12 credit hours of elective credits.
Required Courses
The core courses, taken during the first two years of the program, acquaint students with the basics of political economic thought and public policy analysis. They also introduce students to applied economic reasoning and political institutions at the federal and local government levels. Core courses include:
PPOL G 601-602 (Political Economy I and II)
PPOL G 611-612 (Foundations of Public Policy Analysis I and II)
PPOL G 621-622 (Economics for Policy Analysis I and II)
PPOL G 780-781 (Policy Planning and Program Development I and II)
PPOL G 740 (Political Institutions)
PPOL G 604-605 (Statistics I and II)
PPOL G 630 and 704 (Research Methods I and II)
PPOL G 891 (Dissertation Seminar)
Electives
During the first three years of the program, students are expected to enroll in five to eight elective courses which focus on public policy in particular subject areas. Up to nine credit hours (three courses) may be completed as an internship. Not all courses are available every semester. Courses offered as electives include:
PPOL G 743 (Social Welfare Policy)
PPOL G 744 (Community Political and Economic Development)
PPOL G 745 (Advanced Quantitative Methods)
PPOL G 747 (Law and Public Policy)
PPOL G 748 (Topics in Health Policy)
Comprehensive Examinations
Two comprehensive examinations are given in the late spring and summer between the second and third years of full-time program enrollment, or between the third and fourth year of study for part-time students. One exam consists of a quantitative analysis project where students are provided with quantitative data and prepare an analysis of these data using appropriate quantitative methods. The second exam is an extensive policy analysis essay. After being provided with case material, students work for a specified period to prepare an analysis and a policy recommendation on a current issue in public policy. The work on these exams demonstrates a grasp of economic and political theory, the fundamentals of public policy analysis, and the fundamentals of research methods and quantitative analysis.
Internships
Through the internship option, students work on an individual policy project and apply relevant theory and technical skills to a public policy issue. Students with substantial prior public policy work experience may choose to complete additional elective course work instead of an internship. The internship will normally be completed in the third year of the program.
Dissertation
One of the most important requirements of the program is the completion of a dissertation, an original project that makes a substantive contribution to knowledge about public policy. The student’s dissertation work is supervised by a primary advisor and a doctoral committee. The committee is responsible for approving the thesis proposal, overseeing the data collection and analysis, and reviewing the written draft of the dissertation. The completed dissertation must be approved by the program’s doctoral committee, and an oral defense must be successfully presented.