Making it Easy to Pursue Dual Degrees

Business | Law | Environment | Medicine

An MPP degree is a valuable complement to a degree in a professional or academic field. The Sanford School makes it easy to obtain dual degrees from one of Duke's or UNC's professional programs. Dual MPP degree options require 39 credit hours.

Our popular dual-degree programs involve Duke's top-ranked Law School, School of Medicine, Fuqua School of Business, and Nicholas School of the Environment as well as UNC-Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School and the UNC Law School. Due to the curriculum structure for dual degree students, we do not offer a dual degree option with PhD or programs other than those listed herein.

The typical first-year course sequence for a dual-degree student consists of the following requirements:

MPP Fall Semester
(15 credits):

  • Policy Analysis I
  • Statistics & Data Analysis
  • Ethics & Policy Making or Approved Ethics Course Option
  • Microeconomics I
  • Politics of the Policy Process

MPP Spring Semester
(12-15 credits):

  • Policy Analysis II
  • Microeconomics II
  • Quantitative Evaluation Methods
  • One or two electives

Summer Internship: Performed in the summer after completing the first MPP year.

After completing the first MPP year plus the summer internship, students register primarily for courses through the Law, Business, Environment, or Medical School. During the final year of study in their dual-degree programs, students register with the Graduate School for three or four courses, two of which focus on the development, research, and writing of the Master’s Project under the close supervision of a public policy faculty member.

MPP Courses Taken in Final Fall Semester(6 credits):

  •  
  • Master's Project I (3 credits)
  • Master's Project II (3 credits)

MPP Course Taken in Final Spring Semester(3 or 6 credits, depending on first-year load):

  • One Public Policy elective (3 credits)
  • One Public Policy elective (3 credits) if not taken in spring of the first MPP year

Please note: Separate applications are required for dual degree programs. If you plan to pursue a dual degree with another institution, please check on that institution's application requirements and procedures. Students applying under these curriculum options must use separate evaluation forms and recommendations for each of the two applications; you may use the same person(s) for both applications, but the forms must be submitted independently in addition to submitting separate, independent transcripts and tests scores. We have dual degree agreements with Duke and UNC Law (JD); Duke Medicine (MD); Duke and UNC Business (MBA); and Duke Environment (MEM).

Business: MPP/MBA

This three-year program is ideal for students interested in highly regulated industries, such as utilities and health care, or in social entrepreneurship. 39 credits of MPP coursework are required.

For more information about either Duke's J.B. Fuqua School of Business or UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School, please visit their web site.

The GRE is not required for Duke/UNC dual degree MPP/MBA applicants; the GMAT can be substituted.

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Law: MPP/JD

This four-year (39 credit) program offers students the analytical and quantitative skills of an MPP to complement their knowledge of the legal system. Students may pursue a dual MPP/JD degree with Duke Law or UNC-Chapel Hill Law Schools. The first year of the program is completed in the MPP Program. Years two and three are completed at the respective law school. The final year requires active registration in both program with 9 credits of public policy coursework completed at Sanford. For the MPP/JD dual degree option, separate applications are submitted: to the MPP program and Duke or UNC-Chapel Hill Law School.

We waive the GRE testing requirement and accept the LSAT for Duke/UNC Law School applicants. However, we strongly encourage submission of the GRE for MPP/JD dual degree applicants to be competitive with those who are submitting the GRE.

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Environment: MPP/MEM or MPP/MF

This three-year program is offered with Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences. The MPP/Master of Environmental Management (MEM) or Master of Forestry (MF) gives students a strong background in environmental science, plus the policy analysis and public management skills to translate science into policy.

Duke strengths in environmental policy include sustainable development, conservation and protected areas, international environmental policy, energy and climate, and cost/benefit analysis.

The MEM/MF program application is available on the Nicholas School web site. For specific application procedures and information on the MPP program, please refer to the MPP admissions page.

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Medicine: MPP/MD

The MD-MPP dual degree is an interdisciplinary five-year program appealing to medical students interested in pursuing career opportunities to perform high-quality analyses of local, state, federal, and global health issues.  MPP policy analysis and public management tools can help physicians become more effective players in the health care policy world.

In addition to meeting Duke School of Medicine (SOM) requirements, the five-year MD-MPP includes 39 units of public policy course work, a public policy summer internship, and the completion of a Master’s Project under the close supervision of a public policy faculty advisor.

Students are accepted to Duke SOM through their regular application process; they then apply to Duke Public Policy in the fall of their second year. Interested Medical School students should contact Dr. David Matchar, Third Year Study Track Director, for discussion of their choice of mentor project and additional information on this program.

For specific application procedures and information on the MPP program, please refer to the MPP admissions page.

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Kevin Martin, MPP '93

"The Duke MPP program provided me with a solid foundation of analytic skills that help me when I examine all sides of an issue -- political, legal, and economic-- in order to recommend effective solutions."  Video Icon

Kevin Martin
MPP ’93; JD, Harvard, ’96
Former Chairman, Federal Communications Commission