Master of Public Policy (MPP)

• 18 graduate-level courses (1800 units of credit) with at least 12 Public Policy (PPHA) courses

• 6 core courses that provide a foundation in critical analysis, reflecting Harris's belief that mastering quantitative and analytical skills prepares students to be effective public policy leaders

  • PPHA 30800 Analytical Politics I: Strategic Foundations

  • PPHA 31610 Analytical Politics II: Political Institutions 

  • Statistics Sequence I:

    • PPHA 31002 Statistics for Data Analysis I, or

    • PPHA 31202 Advanced Statistics for Data Analysis I

  • Statistics Sequence II: 

    • PPHA 31102 Statistics for Data Analysis II: Regressions, or

    • PPHA 31302 Advanced Statistics for Data Analysis II

  • Microeconomics Sequence I:

    • PPHA 32300 Principles of Microeconomics for Public Policy I, or

    • PPHA 32310 Advanced Microeconomics for Public Policy I

  • Microeconomics Sequence II:

    • PPHA 32400 Principles of Microeconomics for Public Policy II, or

    • PPHA 32410 Advanced Microeconomics for Public Policy II

• Elective Options

  • MPP students can explore special academic interests and fields as well as participate in internships and independent research complementing required course work.

  • Students may choose to focus on an area of public policy, register for courses in departments and schools across the University, and take advantage of experiential opportunities to apply what they learn in the classroom to real-world problems.

• A cumulative GPA of 2.7 for all courses, based on a 4.0 scale

• A grade of C- or better for the 6 core courses

• Completion of the math requirement (support available)

• Completion of a practical experience requirement (more information)

• No more than 2 reading/research, independent study, or internship courses

• No more than 2 courses taken Pass/Fail (core courses cannot be taken pass/fail)

• Courses with grades of F, I, W, or with no reported grade do not apply toward the 18-course requirement for the program.

• Policies on the the results of not meeting these requirements can be found on the Harris policies page.

• Any questions about these requirements can be sent to the Harris Dean of Students Office at harrisdeanofstudents@uchicago.edu.

Year 1

Autumn

• Microeconomics I (PPHA 32300)
• Statistics for Data Analysis I (PPHA 31002)
• Analytical Politics I: Strategic Foundations (PPHA 30800)

Winter

• Microeconomics II (PPHA 32400)
• Statistics for Data Analysis II: Regressions (PPHA 31102)
• Analytical Politics II: Political Institutions (PPHA 31610)

Spring

• Elective
• Elective
• Elective

“Having attained a master’s of public policy, I have frameworks and tools that I use to formulate responses to complex issues in a deeper and more thoughtful way. The graduate degree in public policy offers an opportunity to step outside of narrow disciplines and learn from and amongst a diverse group of incredibly bright and talented people. I grew significantly as an individual through the friendships I developed and perspectives I gained from my peers. I now have a network across geographies of colleagues in a variety of professional disciplines that I utilize to stay connected to global issues and apply to my personal and professional pursuits.”

—Eric Tawney (MPP'14), Investment Analyst at BlackRock

“My Harris education helps me connect the dots and construct a more comprehensive view of how the Central Bank should produce its policy, including how to maintain low inflation and a stable exchange rate on a national scale. I am, ultimately, impacting my country’s economic policy by bridging the gap between academic research and policy practice.”

—Andi Widianto (MPP'11), Economic Analyst at the Central Bank of Indonesia

“I think the biggest difference between an economics degree and one in public policy is that those of us with public policy backgrounds better understand the political aspect, the incentives of various stakeholders, and how that impacts policy design and implementation. A lot of policies fail because of competing interests. The advantage that Harris graduates have is that we understand those incentives and interests. We know that it’s about more than just the economic and financial pieces. That informs our work and ultimately matters a lot.”

—Oliver Azuara Herrera (MPP'02, PhD'11), Economics Officer at the Inter-American Development Bank 

“One thing Harris does is give you a really flexible toolkit that can be used in a lot of different ways in the policy arena.”

—Elizabeth Kneebone (MPP'03 and recipient of the 2016 Harris Alumni Rising Star Award), Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program Fellow

“On a day-to-day basis—in Chicago, in my district, in committee, on the floor, analyzing policy—the skill set I got at Harris is what I use the most.”

—Mike Quigley (AM'85), US Representative for the 5th District of Illinois