Overview
The MPP program requirements are designed to provide students with a solid, interdisciplinary foundation in public policy analysis. Students master a common set of concepts and analytical tools, and complete additional courses in a study specialization. The curriculum is divided into 3 categories for a total of 37 credits. Courses are 3 credits each unless otherwise indicated.
Core courses – 7 courses (16 credits)
Basic concepts (10 credits):
- PUBL 603 Theory and Practice of Policy Analysis
- PUBL 613 Managing Public Organizations
- PUBL 623 Governmental Budgeting
- PUBL 697 Internship Course (0 credit)
- PUBL 699 Policy Analysis Paper (1 credit)
Research methods and quantitative analysis (6 credits):
- PUBL 600 Research Methodology
- PUBL 604 Statistical Analysis
Disciplinary foundation courses – 3 courses (9 credits)
- PUBL 601 Political and Social Context of the Policy Process
- PUBL 602 Microeconomics for Public Policy Analysis or ECON 601 Microeconomic Analysis
- PUBL 605 Segregation, Public Policy, and Inequality (previously PUBL 6xx Inequality and American Public Policy) or SOCY 606 Social Inequality and Social Policy
Study specialization courses – 4 courses (12 credits), with one course a specialization-approved statistical/methodological/analytical course.
Our study specializations are:
- Evaluation and Analytical Methods
- Health Policy
- Public Management
- Urban Policy
- Education Policy
- Environmental Policy
Learn more about study specializations.
Specific course requirements for each area of specialization are listed in the Graduate Student Handbook.
Internships
M.P.P. students without full time public policy work experience will complete an approved internship. The internship must total 200 hours and can take place during the academic year or in the summer. The Graduate Program Director decides what constitutes an internship and must give prior approval to any internship a student proposes to use to fulfill the internship requirement. Students should enroll in PUBL 697 during the internship; permission to enroll in PUBL 697 can be requested from the Graduate Program Director.
Once the internship has concluded, the student must submit an Internship Completion Form that includes responses to a series of structured questions about the intern experience. The internship requirement will be met when the student enrolls in PUBL 697, concludes the 200 hour internship, and submits the Internship Completion Form.
Students may request a waiver of the internship if they possess one year of full-time public policy experience. The request for waiver must describe the student’s work experience, and how it is relevant to the public policy discipline. The waiver request should be submitted no later than 90 days before the beginning of the student’s final semester. The waiver must be approved by the Graduate Program Director. Students requesting a waiver should complete and submit the Petition for a Waiver of the Internship Requirement to the Graduate Program Director.
MPP Policy Analysis Paper
Master’s students are required to take a 1 credit course (PUBL 699) in which each student produces a policy analysis paper.
Master’s Thesis Option
Students may write a master’s thesis instead of the policy analysis paper. They will then substitute a 6 credit hour master’s thesis for the 1 credit hour policy analysis paper. Students choosing this option will be required to take only 3 track courses instead of the 4 required of other students. As a consequence, students choosing the master’s thesis option will engage in a 39 credit hour master’s program instead of the 37 hour program required of the other students.
ICARE NRT Interdisciplinary Program
The ICARE NRT master’s degree is a 2-year interdisciplinary degree program with a dual mission of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice combined with research focused on improving the health of Baltimore Harbor. Students will be mentored by a UMBC faculty member and a non-academic scientist from a government agency, non-profit, or industry. That research team will be embedded in a larger stakeholder team, meaning that each student and their mentors will identify one or more community members (non-scientists) with a stake in the research to be engaged in the research from development to completion. Students will also be taking skills courses (community leadership, DEIJ, oral and written communication) and disciplinary courses appropriate to their research project. Some accepted students will be funded (stipend, tuition, and benefits) by the ICARE NSF grant, and we will work with the remaining four to try to find funding. Public Policy is one of five Masters programs participating. Prospective students apply to both the MPP program and the ICARE program.