Cornell CIPA

Institutional Structure: The MPA now offered by the  (CIPA) was created in 1946, originally having been offered through the University's School of Business and Public Administration. CIPA became an independent institution in 1984, a classification that provided it with autonomy from other academic units but which maintained a connection with the University's Graduate School sufficient to enable CIPA to grant degrees. As of 2014, CIPA and the MPP program are formally offered through the College of Human Ecology (CHE). CIPA has cited CHE's existing undergraduate  major & doctoral programs (through CHE's Department of Policy Analysis & Management), as well as a proposed resolution to create a new school of public policy, as potential contributing factors to CIPA's move (see http://www.cipa.cornell.edu/news/index.cfm?news_id=542, accessed 1 March 2015).

Curriculum Design: The Cornell Institute for Public Affairs offers, through arrangement with other units in Cornell University, a vast array of course electives for the MPA degree. Students are required to select a set of concentration courses from one of eight areas: Government, Politics and Policy Studies; Economic and Financial Policy; Environmental Policy; Human Rights and Social Justice; International Development Studies; Public and Nonprofit Management; Science, Technology and Infrastructure Policy; Social Policy. The CIPA MPA is one of the most highly quantitative of the MPP/MPA degrees we have reviewed - our PEACO calculations below suggest that typical students take almost half their course work in subjects with high mathematics/economics content. The PEACO calculations suggest that typical students take about 72% of their coursework in policy-oriented subjects and 28% in management-oriented subjects. With 16 courses required for graduation, these numbers place the CIPA MPA in the "high course requirement, highly policy-orientated, higher math-economics content" curricular type, along with such programs as the Princeton MPA, the Columbia MPA, and the Chicago MPP (see MPP/MPA Curricular Types). Among peers in this curricular type, the CIPA provides access to a high number of courses with a moderate proportion of courses taught within the school.

Professional Program Features: The program's co-curricular activities are described at http://www.cipa.cornell.edu/academics/cocurricular.cfm and its extensive career services are described on the Career Management page at http://www.cipa.cornell.edu/career/. website xxx, accessed 14 February 2015).  

Program Summary

Website: http://www.cipa.cornell.edu/

University: Cornell University

Location: Ithaca, New York, USA

Degree: Master of Public Administration (MPA)

Year Founded: MPA offered since 1946, CIPA has existed since 1984.

Marketing Approach: "At the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs (CIPA), we educate the public policy leaders of tomorrow. We offer a remarkably flexible but challenging academic curriculum, blended with substantial hands-on, practical experience.” (At http://www.cipa.cornell.edu/, accessed 5 March 2015.) “Our two-year MPA program is designed to provide a solid foundation in fundamentals, special expertise in an area of your choosing, and the strong analytical and communication skills you will need as a professional in the public affairs arena, while offering you flexibility in selecting your courses and experiences.” (http://www.cipa.cornell.edu/cipa/about/, accessed 5 March 2015).

Degrees Awarded per Year: Approximately 120. Average class size 120; average total enrolment 240 (http://www.cipa.cornell.edu/about/facts.cfm, accessed 5 March 2015).

Academic Unit within University: The Cornell Institute of Public Affairs is a unit of the College of Human Ecology.

Related Academic Units and Degrees: The MPA is the only degree offered by CIPA. Within the College of Human Ecology, the Department of Policy Analysis and Management (http://www.human.cornell.edu/pam/index.cfm) offers a Master in Health Administration (http://www.human.cornell.edu/pam/sloan/prospectivestudents/degree-requirements.cfm). There is a dual MPA/MHA option and complementary degrees can be arranged with the MBA and JD programs (see http://www.cipa.cornell.edu/academics/acceleratedmpa.cfm).

Posted Tuition: Tuition and fees for 2015-16: $32,000, at http://www.cipa.cornell.edu/admissions/tuition.cfm, accessed 17 May 2015.

Concentration/Curriculum Overview: 

MPA Degree Requirements

Summary: The Cornell degree offers a highly flexible curriculum intended to leverage students’ prior policy experience. Students must complete sixteen courses comprised of nine core courses (three in each of the areas of Administrative, Professional & Policy Process; Economic Analysis & Public Finance; and Quantitaive Methods and Analytics; one of the three courses taken within each area must be taken from a designed list of courses, while no guidelines exist as to how to select the remaining two in each area), five courses in the student’s selected area of professional focus and two courses related to professional writing/analytical qualifications or otherwise strengthening the student’s professional preparation. Students must also complete a practical experience (internship, off-campus study, capstone and/or public service exchange), a four-semester CIPA Colloquium, a professional writing/analytical qualification (satisfied either by achieving a minimum grade on the optional capstone project, a professional report on their optional internship experience, or by writing an optional MPA thesis), and various extra-curricular activities. Some substitutions may be accommodated based on a student’s mastery of a particular subject.

Students are expected to select concentrations that reflect their prior experience and desired area of future work. The content of each concentration is not set in stone (viz. specific courses are not set: students are given some flexibility in crafting a concentration that is appropriate to their experience and that will facilitate the development of mastery). The concentrations are as follows: Government, Politics and Policy Studies; Economic and Financial Policy; Environmental Policy; Human Rights and Social Justice; International Development Studies; Public and Nonprofit Management; Science, Technology and Infrastructure Policy; Social Policy.

Duration: 2 years.

Academic Prerequisite: Graduation from a 4-year accredited college/university. Admissions decisions are also heavily dependent upon post-baccalaureate experience in an area of policy.

Number of One-Semester-Equivalent Courses Required for Completion: 16

Number of Required Courses: 10

Number of Electives Typically Taken (difference between above two entries): 6

Number of Electives Offered within Program: 285

Comprehensive Examination: No

Thesis Required: No, but a written assignment is required. A written capstone project, a “Professional Report” or an MPA thesis can satisfy this requirement.

Internship Required: Yes. This requirement can be fulfilled by an internship, off-campus study, a capstone project or a “Public Service Exchange” (see section below on pro-bono consulting). Most students pursue a summer internship to fulfill this requirement.

International Study Required: No, but the school offers several study abroad programs which can be taken in lieu of the internship requirement, including the Cornell-Naples Studies Program, the Cornell in Rome Program, the CIPA Washington Externship Semester, and the CIPA Mysore Externship Semester.

Co-curricular Activities Supportive to Degree

Professional Development and Career Support: The school provides career support, including assisting students in the preparation of a portfolio of professional work.

Student-run Journal: Yes, The Cornell Policy Review at http://www.cornellpolicyreview.com/

Applied Projects: As part of the optional capstone course, students consult for a policy matter on a pro-bono basis.

Pro Bono Consulting: Yes, the “Public Service Exchange” (work is conducted for credit, and can be taken in addition to or in lieu of the summer internship).

Courses Offered: Course listing available at http://www.cipa.cornell.edu/academics/curriculum/upload/CIPA-Course-Guide-fa2014.pdf (accessed 5 March 2015)

Course Material Online: Course descriptions but not syllabi are generally available at the links immediately above.

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. Given the complexity of the concentrations and course structure, the following simplifying assumptions were used: 1) the 3 courses from Administrative, Professional & Policy Process correspond to courses we have assigned to the Atlas subject Democratic Institutions and Policy Process; the 3 courses from Economic Analysis & Public Finance correspond to courses we have assigned to Economic Analysis; and the 3 courses from Quantitative Methods and Analytics correspond to courses we have assigned to Quantitative Methods; and 2) all the other courses listed have the same probability of being selected.  

!This page has been adjusted since PEACO scores have been last calculated: # electives has been reduced to eliminate duplicates (xxx_00X.pdf)

		Cornell
		MPA
Curricular Type Parameters
	Number of Courses Required for Graduation	16.0
	Math-Economics Subjects (EA, QM, Macro, Fin Markets)	48.6%
	Policy-Oriented Subjects	72.4%
	Management-Oriented Subjects	27.6%
Enrolment-Adjusted Course Distribution
	Analysis and Skill Subjects	52.2%
	- Policy and Management Analysis	1.7%
	- Economic Analysis	21.7%
	- Quantitative  and Analytic Methods	25.8%
	- Leadership and Communication Skills	3.1%
	Institutions and Context Subjects	24.6%
	- Democratic Institutions and Policy Process	21.1%
	- Ethics, Rights and Accountability	0.7%
	- Socioeconomic, Political, and Global Contexts	2.8%
	Management Function Subjects	4.1%
	- Public Financial Management	0.8%
	- Evaluation and Performance Measurement	2.2%
	- Other Management Functions	1.0%
	Policy Sector Subjects	19.1%
	- Macroeconomic Policy	2.0%
	- International Development	1.3%
	- Health	1.4%
	- Other Policy Sectors	14.5%
	Total	100%
Competency Gap Analysis (in Course-Weeks of Instruction)
	Course-Weeks in Core Subjects taken by Typical Student	162
	Surplus or Shortfall Relative to Core Competency Requirement
	- Policy and Management Analysis (CCR = 18 course-weeks)	-15
	- Economic Analysis (CCR = 12)	30
	- Quantitative Methods (CCR = 12)	32
	- Analytic Methods (CCR = 6)	0
	- Leadership Skills (CCR = 9)	-5
	- Communication Skills (CCR = 3 courses)	-1
	- Democratic Institutions and Policy Process (CCR = 18)	23
	- Ethics, Rights and Accountability (CCR = 6 courses)	-5
	- Socioeconomic and Political Context (CCR = 6)	-2
	- Global Context (CCR = 3)	-1
	- Public Financial Management (CCR = 6)	-4
	- Evaluation and Performance Measurement (CCR = 6)	-2
	- Human Resource Management (CCR = 3)	-2
	- Information and Technology Management (CCR = 3)	-2
	- Macroeconomic Policy (CCR = 6)	-2
	- Environment and Sustainability (CCR = 3)	1
	Subject-Matter Shortfall for Typical Student (Sum of Shortfalls)	-42
Additional Parameters
	Total Courses Listed	295
	Courses Designated as Required (inc. Specialization Reqs)	10.0
	Archetypal Public Affairs Subjects (P&MA, EA, QM, DI&PP)	67.2%
	Archetypal International Affairs Subjects (GC, ID, DS&FR)	2.2%
Courses Required and Offered
	Courses Required to Graduate	16
	Required Courses	10
	Elective Courses Taken by Typical Student	6
	Elective Courses Listed	285
	Enrolment Weight of Elective Course	0.02
	Total Courses Listed	295

Source: At http://www.cipa.cornell.edu/ and related sites accessed 31 March 2015.

Page Created By: Dave Marshall on 5 March 2015 and updated by Ian Clark on 31 March 2015 and Dave Marshall on 31 March 2015. 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.

Cornell MPA Course Map
 C o u r s e s  O f f e r e d,  l i s t e d  b y  P u b l i c  P o l i c y  a n d  M a n a g e m e n t  S u b j e c t

Due to the flexibility of the Cornell program (and the concomitant large number of courses recommended for students), unlike other Atlas course pages the course listing for Cornell only reflects those recommended courses that are offered during the 2014-15 academic year.