As First Day of Classes Begins, Harris Welcomes Class of 2025

The University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy today officially welcomes the Class of 2025 to the school’s community of future policy leaders after an inspiring Orientation Week. The busy schedule featured an illuminating Aims of Public Policy address delivered by Associate Professor Damon Jones; an informative talk by Distinguished Senior Fellow David Axelrod, who was a senior advisor to President Barack Obama and founding director of the UChicago Institute of Politics; and a thought-provoking keynote address by Xavier Ramey, CEO of Justice Informed. 

On this first day of classes, students are beginning their studies in microeconomics, analytical politics, statistics, and the other courses in Harris’ Core Curriculum, which provide the foundational skills to pursue difference-making careers in government, the non-profit world, and business and the private sector. 

The incoming class of 560 graduate students, both Master’s and PhD, is preparing to explore important theoretical and real-world questions. During their time at Harris, they will gain analytical tools and practical experience that will equip them to make an impact on policy challenges like climate change, poverty and inequality, threats to democracy, access to education and healthcare, the need to deliver public services despite budgetary constraints, and many others.

“As always, the Harris community remains dedicated to bringing the most rigorous intellectual tools to bear on society’s most pressing challenges,” said Ethan Bueno de Mesquita, interim dean and Sydney Stein Professor, in his welcome message to the Harris community last week. “We live in a time of great societal changes all around the world. While such change can be daunting, it also means that we face a future in which the skills, tools, and perspectives of serious-minded policy professionals will be absolutely essential.”

The incoming students will enjoy several new opportunities that will accelerate their own and the school’s study of critical issues and deepen engagement in Chicago and other communities. Among them are a new multi-faceted initiative to study questions at the intersection of technology, society, and governance. This effort comes on the heels of the emergence of new technologies like generative artificial intelligence (AI) that raise policy considerations across our societies.

The Harris Policy Innovation Challenge, another new initiative, kicks off this week and aims to tackle one of Chicago’s most urgent crises. This student competition will ask teams of students—with support and mentorship from faculty, city officials, labor leaders, industry experts, and alumni—to develop viable solutions to the complex pension crisis that threatens to overtake the city’s budget.

The Policy Innovation Challenge is one of numerous opportunities for students to tangibly influence lives in Chicago and its neighborhoods while they are here. Others include Harris Policy Labs, an experiential learning course in which students partner with civic organizations and local government agencies; polis groups, which work with local not-for-profits to provide greater insight and assistance to Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods; and student groups like Harris Community Action or the Prairie State Society.

The incoming class is beginning both full- and part-time degree programs, including Harris’s flagship degree program, the Master of Public Policy (MPP), as well as the Master of Arts in Public Policy with Certificate in Research Methods (MACRM), the MS in Computational Analysis & Public Policy (MSCAPP) program, and the PhD program.

The new students will benefit from Harris’ strong Career Development program. The school’s most recent Career Outcomes Report shows that, despite a tumultuous labor market, of the 371 most recent graduating professionals who sought employment, 98 percent received job offers and 97 percent secured employment, with 92 percent accepting offers within three months of graduation.

Fifty-five percent of graduates accepted positions in the private sector, 29 percent accepted public sector roles, and 17 percent chose nonprofit entities. This marks an increase in graduates choosing careers in government and the public sector and a significant increase in graduates choosing private sector employment over recent years. More than 400 organizations employ Harris graduates around the world.

Harris students will be taught and intellectually challenged by Harris’ world class faculty roster, which features 57 tenured and tenure-track professors, and instructors with deep and broad real-world policy experience.  Four new faculty members have joined Harris starting this year: Associate Professor Lesley Turner, Assistant Professor Erin Kelley, Assistant Professor Martin Castillo Quintana, and Assistant Professor Maggie Shi.

Harris, the second-largest professional degree program at the University of Chicago, serves as the academic home for the Center for Effective Government, the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts, the Center for Municipal Finance, the Stone Center for Research on Wealth Inequality and Social Mobility, and the University of Chicago’s five Urban Labs, making the school a hub for the next generation of leaders eager to make a direct impact on policy. Among the 57 Harris faculty members are experts who study child and family policy, development economics, energy policy, urban policy, political science, poverty and economic inequality, and more.

All members of the Harris community are encouraged to partake in the Common Read, part of the school’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. The 2023 selection, Streets of Gold: America's Untold Story of Immigrant Success, combines striking storytelling with innovative data analysis to reimagine the histories—and futures—of immigration in the United States. Authors Ran Abramitzky and Leah Boustan offer readers a critical framework in interpreting how the “golden era” of immigration compares to current times, and how immigrant success continues to shape the lives of U.S. born citizens for the better. A series of events are planned to unpack the data and messages of the book.

Interested in joining Harris?

The application for Harris programs beginning in the fall of 2024 is now open. Prospective students can learn more about degree and non-degree programs, including information on upcoming deadlines, by visiting harris.uchicago.edu/admissions.