
MPA curriculum
Our powerhouse Master of Public Affairs curriculum will...
- Broaden your expertise on a wide range of domestic and international affairs in the public domain.
- Deepen your understanding of public institutions and political, economic, and social processes and their implications for policy development and implementation.
- Teach you the analytic skills necessary for objective policy analysis and evaluation.
- Refine and deepen your leadership and management skills.
- Enable you to explore and apply the roles of values and ethics in public policy design and decision-making.
- Enhance your written and verbal strategic communication skills.
Capstone
The program culminates in a sophisticated applied project for an actual client. Examples might include conducting a landscape analysis of permanent supportive housing projects in the U.S. and making recommendations to a municipal client; crafting a blueprint for how a county could address the opioid epidemic; or identifying/analyzing transportation policy options designed to reduce auto-induced air pollution in a large urban area in a Latin American country.
Core requirements
PP 580: Values, Ethics, and Public Policy | 3 credits |
PP 522: Policy Writing | 1 credit |
PP 590: Mgmt/Leadership in Public Affairs | 3 credits |
PP 554: Economics for Public Affairs | 3 credits |
PP 529: Statistics | 3 credits |
PP 725: Capstone Project | 5 credits |
Subtotal of credits for core | 18 credits |
Electives | 12 credits |
Total credits | 30 credits |
* The Ford School follows the Rackham Graduate School's policy on the assignment of credit hours.
Up to 9 credits of electives can be selected from other graduate programs on campus.
Resources and community
Our MPA students will join a welcoming and diverse scholarly community. They will have ready access to all of the outstanding faculty, academic, career, and personal support that is such an important part of our longstanding, top-ranked, two-year Master of Public Policy degree program.
Some fellowship support is available for Master of Public Affairs students.
Download the MPA brochure