Public Policy

The MPP degree emphasizes the analysis of data and other relevant information to enable graduates to assess public problems, develop appropriate policy responses, and evaluate program effectiveness. MPP graduates enter careers as policy analysts, researchers, consultants, program evaluators, and policymakers in a broad range of public and nonprofit settings, ranging from the local to the international, and in the private sector.

Additionally, students can concentrate in healthcare management and policy or sustainability and climate change policy. The healthcare management and policy angle of study equips students to better assess and act within today's complicated healthcare sector. Students who select sustainability and climate change policy will be immersed in the intricacies of climate change inquiry and action, the most crucial issue of our time. 

At Northeastern, the MPP joins our long-established and nationally accredited Master of Public Administration, as well as our Master of Urban Planning and Policy, Master of Science in Urban Informatics, and Master of Arts in International Affairs. As such, students are part of a larger community of great intellectual and policy area diversity. The curriculum is designed to offer methodological rigor, a theoretical framework, and opportunities for applied experiences in optional areas of specialization. The majority of classes are offered in the early evening to accommodate working students.

MPP students build an area of subject expertise based on an array of electives offered by the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, by other programs in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities, and elsewhere in the university. As experiential learning is a key element of the program, students who enter with fewer than two years of relevant professional experience will be required to complete an internship. Students also have the option to take the internship for credit. Candidates with relevant professional experience can request a waiver of the internship requirement.

Learn more about the Master of Public Policy program from the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, housed in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities.

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