Sanford School of Public Policy
Duke University

Requirements - Curriculum By Semester

Microeconomic Analysis: (2 semesters): Key economic concepts and techniques, and the ability to apply them to real policy problems.
Political Analysis: Analytic frameworks for analyzing politics and informing strategy.
Data Analysis and Evaluation (2 semesters): Quantitative and qualitative methods for gathering and analyzing evidence.
Ethical Analysis: Systematic ways of assessing the ethical implications of public policies.
Policy Analysis (2 semesters): A workshop stressing application, working in groups, team exercises, writing, professional development, and presentation skills.
Management and Leadership (2 semesters): Practical frameworks for effective leadership in the public, private and non-profit settings.

Graduation Requirements   

For a further listing of requirements please refer to the

MPP Student Handbook

Standard Curriculum by Semester

Semester 1
Microeconomics and Public Policymaking (PUBPOL 310.01)
Politics of the Policy Process (PUBPOL 314.01)
Statistics and Data Analysis (PUBPOL 312)
Policy Analysis 1 (PUBPOL 303.01)
Ethics or Globalization and Governance or Topics in Social Policy (PUBPOL 316.01, 320.01, 350.01)

Semester 2
Microeconomics: Policy Applications (PUBPOL 311.01)
Quantitative Evaluation Methods (PUBPOL 313.01)
Policy Analysis II (PUBPOL 304.01)
Elective

Summer Internship (usually completed after first MPP year)

Semester 3
Public Management (PUBPOL 315.01)
Ethics (PUBPOL 316.01, if deferred from Semester 1) or Elective
Elective
Master’s Project I (PUBPOL 303.01/307.01/307.02/307.03)

Semester 4
Leadership Skills Modules* (pick 2)
(PUBPOL 330.01/330.02/330.03/330.04)
Elective
Elective
Master’s Project II (PUBPOL 308.01)
*Topics include negotiation, leadership, etc.

Complete list of Public Policy courses offered in previous, current and future semesters. 300-level courses are graduate, professional, and PhD student courses; 200-level are graduate-level courses permitting a selected number of junior and senior undergraduates, and 100-level courses are specifically designated as undergraduate courses. NOTE: For students entering the program with strong backgrounds in microeconomics or statistics, options for advanced coursework, in the first year of study, are available.

Complete listing of Duke courses.