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UCLA Graduate Programs

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Program Requirements for Public Policy

Applicable only to students admitted during the 2017-2018 academic year.

Public Policy

UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs

Graduate Degrees

The Department of Public Policy offers the Master of Public Policy (M.P.P.) degree.

Admissions Requirements

Master’s Degree

Advising

Upon entering the program, students are assigned a faculty adviser to counsel them regarding their program of study. As the student becomes more familiar with the department’s faculty, the adviser initially assigned by the department may be replaced by a faculty member in the student’s area of interest. Students also have a department graduate adviser who counsels them on their progress toward fulfillment of the degree requirements. The department graduate adviser is also the internship coordinator.

Areas of Study

Beyond the core curriculum, students select electives in substantive areas such as education, employment and labor policy, environmental and natural resources policy, health, economic development, nonprofit management, regional development, social policy, transportation, and urban poverty. The substantive courses provide a context which enables students to apply analytic methods to real-world problems. Students can select elective courses within the Department of Public Policy, in the Luskin School, and in departments throughout UCLA. Students can also use their electives to earn a Certificate in Global Public Affairs, Leaders in Sustainability, and other policy related programs.

Students also have the option, with their faculty adviser’s consultation, of designing a concentration from a set of elective courses.  A minimum of three courses are required for a concentration, but the concentration can also include fieldwork and the Applied Policy Project.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

All students are required to take the core curriculum, consisting of microeconomics, statistics, political institutions, policy implementation, and organizational management.  These provide a broadly based foundation in social/policy analysis together with relevant quantitative, analytical, managerial, and organizational methods. The first seven of the core courses are normally taken in the first year.

Core & Required Courses (32 units) Units
PUB PLC 201 4
PUB PLC 202 4
PUB PLC 203 4
PUB PLC 204 4
PUB PLC 206 4
PUB PLC 208 4
PUB PLC 209 4
PUB PLC 210 4
Three quarter second year Applied Policy Project seminars  
PUB PLC 298A 2
PUB PLC 298B 6
PUB PLC 298C 2
Public Policy Internship Course
PUB PLC 496 4
Elective Courses 34
TOTAL UNITS 80

Students take a minimum of three four-unit courses per quarter for a total of 80 units, including eight core courses, eight elective courses, a three-quarter seminar for the Applied Policy Project, and an internship course. Normally all 80 units must be graduate and professional courses (200 and 400 series). However, students also may take a maximum of two 596 courses (eight units total) and/or one upper division course (four units total) when similar course content is not offered at the graduate level. In such instances, the 596 units may apply toward the entire graduate course requirement for the degree and the one upper division course (four units) reduces the amount of graduate course work required to 76 units.

Public Policy core courses are sometimes waived with the instructor’s consent if the students can demonstrate mastery of the material through satisfactory completion of previous course work that covered similar concepts and content. Students receiving a waiver are still expected to complete the unit equivalent of the waived course via an elective.

Public Policy, M.P.P./Law, J.D.

Students who pursue the concurrent degree program with the School of Law complete the eight core courses, elective courses, an internship course, and the three-quarter seminar for the Applied Policy Project for total of 68 units. The remaining 12 units of course requirements are fulfilled through law courses taken for the J.D. program and are applied toward the M.P.P. degree.

During the first year, students follow the required law curriculum, taking 33 units. The second year is spent in the M.P.P. program taking 36 units toward the M.P.P. degree. During the third and fourth years, students take the remaining 32 units of the M.P.P. curriculum and 40 units of law courses to complete the J.D. degree.

Public Policy, M.P.P./M.B.A.

Students who pursue the concurrent degree program with the John E. Anderson School of Management complete the eight core courses, elective courses, an internship course, and the three-quarter seminar for the Applied Policy Project for a total of 68 units. The remaining 12 units of course requirements are fulfilled through Management courses taken for the M.B.A. program and are applied toward the M.P.P. degree.

Public Policy, M.P.P./M.D.

Students who pursue the concurrent degree program with the School of Medicine complete the eight  core courses, elective courses, and the three-course seminar for the Applied Policy Project for a total of 68 units. The remaining 12 units of course requirements are fulfilled through courses taken for their M.D. program and are applied toward the M.P.P. degree.

Public Policy, M.P.P./M.P.H.

Students who pursue the concurrent degree program with the School of Public Health (Department of Health Policy and Management) complete the eight core courses, elective courses, an internship course, and the three-quarter seminar for the Applied Policy Project for a total of 68 units in Public Policy and 56 units in Health Policy and Management. The remaining 12 units of course requirements are fulfilled through Public Health courses taken for the M.P.H. program and are applied toward the M.P.P. degree.

Public Policy, M.P.P./M.S.W.

Students who pursue the concurrent degree program with the Department of Social Welfare complete the eight core courses, an internship course, elective courses, and the three-quarter seminar for the Applied Policy Project for a total of 68 units. The remaining 12 units of course requirements are fulfilled through Social Welfare courses taken for the M.S.W. program and are applied toward the M.P.P. degree.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Field Experience

400 hours of field training in an approved policy setting are required and generally completed between the first and second years of the program.  However some students may complete fieldwork hours during the academic year.  Students enroll in four units of internship course work via PUB PLC 496 either during the quarter or at the conclusion of their internship.  In addition to serving in the internship, the course work includes professional development sessions directly related to their field experience. Students who have substantial professional experience or have a position to which they will be returning after graduation may petition to waive the internship requirement. The request must be submitted by the end of spring quarter of the first year of the M.P.P. program. Students receiving a waiver are still expected to complete the unit equivalent of the waived course via an elective.

Capstone Plan

This requirement is met by completion of an Applied Policy Project (APP) during the three-quarter policy seminar, which builds on the core courses, internship experience, and elective courses. The department provides a 33-page Handbook which outlines the scope, process, logistics, and grading of the Applied Policy Project. The Handbook is updated annually based on student and faculty feedback about the previous year’s experience. In the APP process, students conduct a detailed investigation of a real-world policy question with an external client.  They learn to frame the problem in a wider social context and in terms of the greater public good. Students are encouraged to grapple with the challenges of policy implementation in the midst of competing and often conflicting social, political, economic and practical interests. The final Applied Policy Project is graded by the team of faculty advisers and is presented orally in front of the Department faculty and the student body.  The Applied Policy Project is certified complete by the faculty APP advisers.  Each year there are three to four sections of this seminar course, each taught by a separate faculty adviser who collectively comprise the evaluation team.  Course grades for individual students may vary based on peer review and instructor evaluation of each student’s contribution to the final Applied Policy Project.  A student or team who do not meet the minimum standard of policy analysis will need to continue working on the project until such time as the project meets the minimum professional standards of analysis and policy making.

Thesis Plan

None.

Time-to-Degree

From graduate admission to award of the degree, normal progress is six quarters. Maximum time allowable from enrollment to graduation, including leaves of absence, is three years (9 quarters).

DEGREE NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters) NORMATIVE TTD

MAXIMUM TTD
M.P.P. 6 6 9

Termination of Graduate Study and Appeal of Termination

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for termination of graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree, and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing termination of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

A faculty counseling board is established for every student whose grade point average is below 3.00 for any quarter or who fails to make satisfactory progress toward the degree. The board is responsible for reviewing the student’s record, aiding the student in raising academic performance to meet minimum standards, and recommending termination if minimum standards are not met. Recommendation for termination may also be made, even if the academic work is satisfactory, if the student fails to demonstrate in course work, internship, or professional relations the standards essential to responsible and ethical practice of public policy analysis.

UCLA Graduate Programs

Students meeting in an on-campus coffee shop

Program Requirements for Public Policy

Applicable only to students admitted during the 2016-2017 academic year.

Public Policy

UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs

Graduate Degrees

The Department of Public Policy offers the Master of Public Policy (M.P.P.) degree.

Admissions Requirements

Master’s Degree

Advising

Upon entering the program, students are assigned a faculty adviser to counsel them regarding their program of study. As the student becomes more familiar with the department’s faculty, the adviser initially assigned by the department may be replaced by a faculty member in the student’s area of interest. Students also have a department graduate adviser who counsels them on their progress toward fulfillment of the degree requirements. The department graduate adviser is also the internship coordinator.

Areas of Study

Beyond the core curriculum, students select electives in substantive areas such as education, employment and labor policy, environmental and natural resources policy, health, economic development, nonprofit management, regional development, social policy, transportation, and urban poverty. The substantive courses provide a context which enables students to apply analytic methods to real-world problems. Students can select elective courses within the Department of Public Policy, in the Luskin School, and in departments throughout UCLA. Students can also use their electives to earn a Certificate in Global Public Affairs, Leaders in Sustainability, and other policy related programs.

Students also have the option, with their faculty adviser’s consultation, of designing a concentration from a set of elective courses.  A minimum of three courses are required for a concentration, but the concentration can also include fieldwork and the Applied Policy Project.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

All students are required to take the core curriculum, consisting of microeconomics, statistics, political institutions, policy implementation, and organizational management.  These provide a broadly based foundation in social/policy analysis together with relevant quantitative, analytical, managerial, and organizational methods. The first seven of the core courses are normally taken in the first year.

Core & Required Courses (32 units) Units
PUB PLC 201 4
PUB PLC 202 4
PUB PLC 203 4
PUB PLC 204 4
PUB PLC 206 4
PUB PLC 208 4
PUB PLC 209 4
PUB PLC 210 4
Three quarter second year Applied Policy Project seminars  
PUB PLC 298A 2
PUB PLC 298B 6
PUB PLC 298C 2
Public Policy Internship Course
PUB PLC 496 4
Elective Courses 34
TOTAL UNITS 80

Students take a minimum of three four-unit courses per quarter for a total of 80 units, including eight core courses, eight elective courses, a three-quarter seminar for the Applied Policy Project, and an internship course. Normally all 80 units must be graduate and professional courses (200 and 400 series). However, students also may take a maximum of two 596 courses (eight units total) and/or one upper division course (four units total) when similar course content is not offered at the graduate level. In such instances, the 596 units may apply toward the entire graduate course requirement for the degree and the one upper division course (four units) reduces the amount of graduate course work required to 76 units.

Public Policy core courses are sometimes waived with the instructor’s consent if the students can demonstrate mastery of the material through satisfactory completion of previous course work that covered similar concepts and content. Students receiving a waiver are still expected to complete the unit equivalent of the waived course via an elective.

Public Policy, M.P.P./Law, J.D.

Students who pursue the concurrent degree program with the School of Law complete the eight core courses, elective courses, an internship course, and the three-quarter seminar for the Applied Policy Project for total of 68 units. The remaining 12 units of course requirements are fulfilled through law courses taken for the J.D. program and are applied toward the M.P.P. degree.

During the first year, students follow the required law curriculum, taking 33 units. The second year is spent in the M.P.P. program taking 36 units toward the M.P.P. degree. During the third and fourth years, students take the remaining 32 units of the M.P.P. curriculum and 40 units of law courses to complete the J.D. degree.

Public Policy, M.P.P./M.B.A.

Students who pursue the concurrent degree program with the John E. Anderson School of Management complete the eight core courses, elective courses, an internship course, and the three-quarter seminar for the Applied Policy Project for a total of 68 units. The remaining 12 units of course requirements are fulfilled through Management courses taken for the M.B.A. program and are applied toward the M.P.P. degree.

Public Policy, M.P.P./M.D.

Students who pursue the concurrent degree program with the School of Medicine complete the eight  core courses, elective courses, and the three-course seminar for the Applied Policy Project for a total of 68 units. The remaining 12 units of course requirements are fulfilled through courses taken for their M.D. program and are applied toward the M.P.P. degree.

Public Policy, M.P.P./M.P.H.

Students who pursue the concurrent degree program with the School of Public Health (Department of Health Policy and Management) complete the eight core courses, elective courses, an internship course, and the three-quarter seminar for the Applied Policy Project for a total of 68 units in Public Policy and 56 units in Health Policy and Management. The remaining 12 units of course requirements are fulfilled through Public Health courses taken for the M.P.H. program and are applied toward the M.P.P. degree.

Public Policy, M.P.P./M.S.W.

Students who pursue the concurrent degree program with the Department of Social Welfare complete the eight core courses, an internship course, elective courses, and the three-quarter seminar for the Applied Policy Project for a total of 68 units. The remaining 12 units of course requirements are fulfilled through Social Welfare courses taken for the M.S.W. program and are applied toward the M.P.P. degree.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Field Experience

400 hours of field training in an approved policy setting are required and generally completed between the first and second years of the program.  However some students may complete fieldwork hours during the academic year.  Students enroll in four units of internship course work via PUB PLC 496 either during the quarter or at the conclusion of their internship.  In addition to serving in the internship, the course work includes professional development sessions directly related to their field experience. Students who have substantial professional experience or have a position to which they will be returning after graduation may petition to waive the internship requirement. The request must be submitted by the end of spring quarter of the first year of the M.P.P. program. Students receiving a waiver are still expected to complete the unit equivalent of the waived course via an elective.

Capstone Plan

This requirement is met by completion of an Applied Policy Project (APP) during the three-quarter policy seminar, which builds on the core courses, internship experience, and elective courses. The department provides a 33-page Handbook which outlines the scope, process, logistics, and grading of the Applied Policy Project. The Handbook is updated annually based on student and faculty feedback about the previous year’s experience. In the APP process, students conduct a detailed investigation of a real-world policy question with an external client.  They learn to frame the problem in a wider social context and in terms of the greater public good. Students are encouraged to grapple with the challenges of policy implementation in the midst of competing and often conflicting social, political, economic and practical interests. The final Applied Policy Project is graded by the team of faculty advisers and is presented orally in front of the Department faculty and the student body.  The Applied Policy Project is certified complete by the faculty APP advisers.  Each year there are three to four sections of this seminar course, each taught by a separate faculty adviser who collectively comprise the evaluation team.  Course grades for individual students may vary based on peer review and instructor evaluation of each student’s contribution to the final Applied Policy Project.  A student or team who do not meet the minimum standard of policy analysis will need to continue working on the project until such time as the project meets the minimum professional standards of analysis and policy making.

Thesis Plan

None.

Time-to-Degree

From graduate admission to award of the degree, normal progress is six quarters. Maximum time allowable from enrollment to graduation, including leaves of absence, is three years (9 quarters).

DEGREE NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters) NORMATIVE TTD

MAXIMUM TTD
M.P.P. 6 6 9

Termination of Graduate Study and Appeal of Termination

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for termination of graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree, and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing termination of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

A faculty counseling board is established for every student whose grade point average is below 3.00 for any quarter or who fails to make satisfactory progress toward the degree. The board is responsible for reviewing the student’s record, aiding the student in raising academic performance to meet minimum standards, and recommending termination if minimum standards are not met. Recommendation for termination may also be made, even if the academic work is satisfactory, if the student fails to demonstrate in course work, internship, or professional relations the standards essential to responsible and ethical practice of public policy analysis.