Harris Policy Labs are elective courses that put rigorous policy training into practice. Students work with external clients, including government agencies, nonprofits, multilateral institutions, and University of Chicago partners, to tackle real public policy challenges.

Projects address timely issues at the local, national, and international levels. Guided by Harris faculty, students work in small, interdisciplinary teams as policy consultants, conducting research, analyzing data, and developing evidence-informed, actionable recommendations that are presented directly to client leadership.

Program Structure and Eligibility Requirements

Policy Labs are offered in the Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters. Each Lab is organized around a central policy theme and pairs student teams with external clients, including government agencies, nonprofits, and international organizations.

Weekly sessions combine client engagement with skill-building workshops and culminate in a final presentation of evidence-informed, actionable deliverables to client leadership.

Sample Policy Lab Focus Areas

  • Impact Investing
  • Safety Net, Health, and Education
  • Energy and Environmental Policy
  • Infrastructure Finance
  • Global Conflict and International Development
  • Philanthropic Sector Policy

Eligibility and Credit

All second-year Harris students are encouraged to enroll. One-year master’s students may enroll during the Winter and Spring quarters. Second- and third-year students from other professional schools are also eligible, subject to faculty consent.

Students receive one letter grade and 100 units of course credit (equivalent to one full course) for each completed quarter.

Paula Worthington

Lecturer

Paula Worthington

Paula Worthington has taught hundreds of public policy graduate students the basics of state and local government fiscal policy analysis and cost-benefit analysis.

Benefits & Impact

Since launching in 2016, Harris Policy Labs has connected rigorous analytical preparation with real-world application. Hundreds of students have partnered with a wide range of public, nonprofit, and international organizations to address pressing policy challenges and deliver evidence-informed analysis with practical relevance.

While each Policy Lab focuses on a distinct policy area or set of analytical tools, all Labs share a common purpose: extending students’ rigorous policy education through applied, real-world work. Across Labs, students have opportunities to:

  • Address policy challenges in complex, real-world institutional settings
  • Analyze and execute across the full lifecycle of a policy problem
  • Gain insight into how policy institutions operate from the inside
  • Build professional relationships with policymakers and policy leaders
  • Strengthen communication, project management, and collaborative skills
  • Participate in cross-Lab professional development workshops
Zion Township-Lauren Daurizio
A team of Harris Policy Labs students field a question from a Zion resident regarding their analysis of local government efficiency. (Photo by Lauren Daurizio)
Zion Township-Lauren Daurizio
Students interviewed elected officials to analyze the cost of several local government consolidation scenarios. (Photo by Lauren Daurizio)
Harris students Sarah Vogel and Paul Mack discuss their analysis of a particular segment of the state’s population of SNAP (food stamp) recipients with James Dimas, Secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services, and his management team. A subsequent team of Policy Labs students built on their work to analyze barriers to employment, including history of incarceration, for these IDHS clients. (Photo by Jean Lachat)
Policy Labs students discuss their analysis of Illinois' SNAP recipients with the Secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services. (Photo by Jean Lachat)
ArtHouse Project
Policy Labs students conducted stakeholder interviews about ArtHouse on behalf of their clients, the City of Gary and Place Lab. (Photo by Andrea Bauer)
Harris students with Gary, IN, Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson
Policy Labs students and advisors with the Mayor of Gary, Place Lab Director Theaster Gates, and their respective staff after the team’s final client presentation. (Photo by Tim Lace)
Gary Project
Harris students conduct a land parcel survey to assess the number of vacant buildings in Gary. (Robert Kozloff/The University of Chicago)
Navy Pier Survey
A Policy Labs team designed and conducted a survey aimed at identifying barriers to visiting Navy Pier. (Photo by Ben Kolak)
Students present their survey results to Navy Pier.
They then developed and presented recommendations for Navy Pier on how to attract more visitors to the most popular Midwest tourist destination. (Photo by Ben Kolak)

Policy Lab Questions & Answers

Policy Labs Timing

When are Policy Labs offered?

Policy Labs are offered Autumn, Winter and Spring Quarters. To assist with course planning, students receive information in August summarizing the Policy Labs that will be offered during the school year.

Policy Labs Quarters

If I enroll in Policy Labs for two quarters, do I have to stay with the same client and same project for both quarters?

No. A student may sign up for a different client and a different project in their second quarter. Because no two clients/projects are the same, students who take this approach will have two very different (but equally valuable) experiences over the two quarters.

Policy Labs Advantages

My policy interest isn’t represented by the client projects. Why should I take this class?

Regardless of your policy interests, you will have the opportunity to make a direct impact on important, real-world policy challenges. The policy and professional skills you develop through your Lab experience are directly transferrable to other policy areas and are valued by prospective employers, even in other states and in other countries.