MPP and MPA Programs
Duke University, Sanford School of Public Policy
Program Comparison Highlights
Institutional Structure: TO COME
Curriculum Design: This is a two-year, full-time MPP with 14 required courses and 90 electives, reflecting a belief in strong core skills and disciplines. It offers 7 concentrations: Development Policy, Environment and Energy Policy, Health Policy, Global Policy, National Security, Population Studies, and Social Policy. The program’s core covers microeconomics, political analysis, methods, ethics, and policy analysis. An internship and a thesis are required. Among the programs yet examined, the Duke MPP's proportion of instruction in the Tools and Skills domain is in the high mid-range (59% compared with, for example, 74% at Berkeley, 52% at Harvard and Carnegie and 35% at NYU). It is in the lower mid-range in the Institutions and Context domain (13% compared with Harvard at 23%, NYU at 14%, Carnegie at 10%, and Berkeley at 7%) and in the mid-range of instruction in the Management Functions domain (at 8% it is higher than Harvard and Berkeley at 3% but much lower than Carnegie at 17%, Indiana at 20% and NYU at 20%). Its proportion of instruction in the Policy Sectors domain is in the middle range (at 20% it is higher than Berkeley at 16% while being comparable to Michigan and NYU at 19%, Indiana and Duke at 20%, Carnegie and Harvard at 22% and Oxford at 23%). See PEACO Profile Comparisons, accessed 12 December 2013.
Professional Program Features: TO COME
Program Summary
Website: http://sanford.duke.edu
University: Duke University
Location: Durham, North Carolina, United States
Degree: Master of Public Policy (MPP)
Degrees Awarded per Year: Target an enrolling class of 55-65 students each fall. 60 graduates in 2015 (at http://sanford.duke.edu/articles/sanford-school-celebrates-300-graduates, accessed 16 May 2015.)
Academic Unit within University: Sanford School of Public Policy
Posted Tuition: $44,997 per year (including $2,280 medical insurance), at http://sanford.duke.edu/admissions/master-public-policy/cost-attendance, accessed 18 May 2015.
Concentration/Curriculum Overview: Duke's professional, highly ranked two-year Master of Public Policy degree (MPP) attracts exceptional students from across the United States and around the world who seek the knowledge and skills they need to pursue careers that will make a difference. To help students achieve their career goals, we combine a rigorous core curriculum with a wide variety of electives and real-world projects.Students may pursue electives within the Sanford School, across campus, and at neighboring universities, including UNC, Chapel Hill, North Carolina Central University, and North Carolina State University. We offer concentrations in seven major areas: Development Policy, Environment and Energy Policy, Health Policy, Global Policy, National Security, Population Studies, and Social Policy. The MPP program offers great flexibility. Students may choose to specialize in a particular policy area or to pursue a more general program. Two-year students have five electives, an internship, and a master's project through which they address specific areas of interest. Close relationships between the Sanford School program and other schools and departments across the University allow students to customize their courses of study. In addition to the electives offered by the Sanford School, MPP students may choose from a wide array of courses offered by other schools and departments at Duke and by neighboring universities.
The MPP Program offers seven policy-area specializations, Global Policy, Social Policy, Population Studies, National Security, Health Policy, Environment and Energy Policy, and Development Policy, for which certificates are awarded upon graduation. Requirements to earn a specialization certificate include:completing 9 credits of coursework in the specified area (either one, three-credit foundations course plus six elective course credits, or, for specializations without a designated foundations course, nine approved elective course credits); completion of a summer internship related to the specialization; writing a Master’s Project on a specialization-area topic.
Degree Requirements
Summary: Students need a solid underpinning of analytic and professional skills to succeed in the world of public policy. Duke’s demanding core curriculum ensures our students hit the ground running when they graduate.
Microeconomic Analysis: (2 semesters): Key economic concepts and techniques, and the ability to apply them to real policy problems.
Political Analysis: Analytic frameworks for analyzing politics and informing strategy.
Data Analysis and Evaluation (2 semesters): Quantitative and qualitative methods for gathering and analyzing evidence.
Ethical Analysis: Systematic ways of assessing the ethical implications of public policies.
Policy Analysis (2 semesters): A workshop stressing application, working in groups, team exercises, writing, professional development, and presentation skills.
Management and Leadership (2 semesters): Practical frameworks for effective leadership in the public, private and non-profit settings.
Semester 1
Microeconomics and Public Policymaking (PUBPOL 810)
Politics of the Policy Process (PUBPOL 814)
Statistics and Data Analysis (PUBPOL 812)
Policy Analysis 1 (PUBPOL 803.01)
Ethics (PUBPOL 816), a specialization Foundation course (Globalization and Governance, PUBPOL 820, or Topics in Social Policy, PUBPOL 850), or another approved substitute
Semester 2
Microeconomics: Policy Applications (PUBPOL 811)
Quantitative Evaluation Methods (PUBPOL 813)
Policy Analysis II (PUBPOL 804)
Elective
Summer Internship (usually completed after first year)
Semester 3
Public Management (PUBPOL 815)
Ethics (PUBPOL 816, if deferred from Semester 1) or Elective
Elective
Master’s Project I (PUBPOL 807)
Semester 4
Leadership Skills Modules*
Elective
Elective
Master’s Project II (PUBPOL 808)
*Topics include negotiation, leadership, etc. Students pick two 1.5 credit (1/2 semester) courses or one three-credit (full semester) course.
Complete list of Public Policy courses offered in previous, current and future semesters. 800-level courses are graduate and professional; 500-level are graduate-level courses permitting a selected number of junior and senior undergraduates; and, 100-400-level courses are specifically designated as undergraduate courses. NOTE: For students entering the program with strong backgrounds in microeconomics or statistics, options for advanced coursework, in the first year of study, are available.
Duration: 2 years (four terms of full-time study).
Number of One-Semester-Equivalent Courses Required for Completion: 17 plus internship
Number of Required Courses: 13 plus internship
Number of Electives Typically Taken (difference between above two entries): 4
Number of Electives Offered within Program: The program also provides access to courses and research facilities available in many other graduate departments, centres and institutes across the University.
Comprehensive Examination: No
Thesis Required: No
Internship Required: Yes
International Study Required: No but there are intership opportunites in Geneva and India
Co-curricular Activities Supportive to Degree
Professional Development and Career Support: Yes
Student-run Journal: Sanford Journal of Public Policy (SJPP)
Applied Projects: No
Pro Bono Consulting: Spring Consulting Projects, see http://research.sanford.duke.edu/students/mpp_search.php for examples
Courses Offered: The full list of 2013-14 Sanford School of Public Policy courses are found at http://fds.duke.edu/db/Sanford/courses.html and many have course outlines. With permission, students can also select graduate-level courses offered by other units at Duke University. The courses offered by the Sanford School of Public Policy have been assigned to Atlas subjects in the map below. Required courses are indicated by (R). Where the required course has two options, they are both designated with (R/2).
Instructional Distribution (PEACO Profile): The table below indicates the distribution of instruction offered, based on the course assignments to subjects in the Course Map below, weighted by estimated enrolment determined by the PEACO Algorithm.
|
|
Duke |
|
|
MPP |
|
Curricular Type Parameters |
|
|
Number of Courses Required for Graduation |
19.0 |
|
Math-Economics Subjects (EA, QM, Macro, Fin Markets) |
20.5% |
|
Policy-Oriented Subjects |
60.0% |
|
Management-Oriented Subjects |
40.0% |
|
|
|
|
Enrolment-Adjusted Course Distribution |
|
|
Analysis and Skill Subjects |
70.9% |
|
- Policy and Management Analysis |
13.4% |
|
- Economic Analysis |
13.4% |
|
|
- Quantitative and Analytic Methods |
13.8% |
|
- Leadership and Communication Skills |
30.4% |
|
Institutions and Context Subjects |
13.0% |
|
- Democratic Institutions and Policy Process |
6.8% |
|
- Ethics, Rights and Accountability |
0.4% |
|
- Socioeconomic, Political, and Global Contexts |
5.9% |
|
Management Function Subjects |
9.2% |
|
- Public Financial Management |
0.0% |
|
- Evaluation and Performance Measurement |
0.1% |
|
- Other Management Functions |
9.1% |
|
Policy Sector Subjects |
6.8% |
|
- Macroeconomic Policy |
0.0% |
|
- International Development |
0.1% |
|
- Health |
0.2% |
|
- Other Policy Sectors |
6.6% |
|
Total |
100% |
|
|
|
|
Competency Gap Analysis (in Course-Weeks of Instruction) |
|
|
Course-Weeks in Core Subjects taken by Typical Student |
151 |
|
Surplus or Shortfall Relative to Core Competency Requirement |
|
|
- Policy and Management Analysis (CCR = 18 course-weeks) |
12 |
|
- Economic Analysis (CCR = 12) |
18 |
|
- Quantitative Methods (CCR = 12) |
4 |
|
- Analytic Methods (CCR = 6) |
9 |
|
- Leadership Skills (CCR = 9) |
-4 |
|
- Communication Skills (CCR = 3 courses) |
0 |
|
- Democratic Institutions and Policy Process (CCR = 18) |
-2 |
|
- Ethics, Rights and Accountability (CCR = 6 courses) |
-5 |
|
- Socioeconomic and Political Context (CCR = 6) |
2 |
|
- Global Context (CCR = 3) |
3 |
|
- Public Financial Management (CCR = 6) |
-6 |
|
- Evaluation and Performance Measurement (CCR = 6) |
-6 |
|
- Human Resource Management (CCR = 3) |
2 |
|
- Information and Technology Management (CCR = 3) |
13 |
|
- Macroeconomic Policy (CCR = 6) |
-6 |
|
- Environment and Sustainability (CCR = 3) |
-3 |
|
Subject-Matter Shortfall for Typical Student (Sum of Shortfalls) |
-32 |
|
|
|
|
Additional Parameters |
|
|
Total Courses Listed |
111 |
|
Courses Designated as Required (inc. Specialization Reqs) |
18.0 |
|
Archetypal Public Affairs Subjects (P&MA, EA, QM, DI&PP) |
40.6% |
|
Archetypal International Affairs Subjects (GC, ID, DS&FR) |
2.6% |
|
|
|
|
Courses Required and Offered |
|
|
Courses Required to Graduate |
19 |
|
Required Courses |
18 |
|
Elective Courses Taken by Typical Student |
1 |
|
Elective Courses Listed |
93 |
|
Enrolment Weight of Elective Course |
0.01 |
|
Total Courses Listed |
111 |
Source: At http://graduate.sanford.duke.edu/mpp/academics (accessed 12 November 2013).
Page Created By: Matthew Seddon on 11 November 2013; updated by Ian Clark on 12 December 2013. Updating and editing may consist of substantive and/or formatting changes. Unless otherwise noted, however, information regarding a program's structure, curricular offerings and PEACO score is based on the program as it was on the date of page creation. The content presented on this page, except for the assignments of courses to Atlas subjects, the Instructional Distribution analysis, and the Commentary is drawn directly from the source(s) cited above, and consists of direct quotations or close paraphrases.
Duke CourseMap
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