Master of public policy (M.P.P.) (two-year) students are required
to present a four-course (12-credit) concentration to complete their
degree requirements. The four courses include two courses in a policy
area and two courses in an analytical perspective: political
institutions and processes or economics. The program currently
offers the following policy areas, each advised by a member of the
faculty:
Community Development
Education
Environment
Gender
Health
Labor and Workforce
Social
The
analytical perspective provides a frame to think about the policy
area. The perspective of political institutions and processes
emphasizes the institutions and processes--including advocacy--that
affect the formulation, implementation, and impact of public policy at
the national, state, and local levels. The perspective of
economics develops and applies the reasoning and tools of economics to
policy analysis.
Students must demonstrate basic competency in
the four courses by achieving a B+ or better in at least
three of the four courses. M.P.P. students must declare
a policy area and analytical perspective by the end of their
second term in the program. At that time, the responsibility for
advising the student transfers to the faculty member in either
the policy area or analytical perspective.
Courses
offered toward the policy area and analytical perspective may
be drawn from offerings within the public policy program, the Bloustein
School, or Rutgers generally, with the permission of the adviser and
the program director. Note that students may, because of course
scheduling, need to take courses in their policy area
and/or analytical perspective during their first year of
enrollment.
Students may select courses not formally listed
toward their policy area or analytical perspective when they
are approved by the faculty adviser and by the program director.
Such selections may include independent studies, and it is assumed that
such independent studies will normally be conducted under the
supervision of the faculty adviser. No courses from the core
requirements for the program may be counted toward requirements for
the concentration. Some courses may have pre- or corequisites that
students are responsible for identifying and fulfilling.
