Applicable only to students admitted during the 2015-2016 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 fieldwork and career services 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 six of the core courses are normally taken in the first year.

Students take a minimum of three four-unit courses per quarter for a total of 84 units, including nine core courses, nine elective courses, a three-quarter seminar in applied policy analysis, and a fieldwork course. Normally all 84 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 coursework required to 80 units.

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, concentration or elective courses, and the three-quarter seminar in applied policy analysis 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 nine core courses, 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 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 nine 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 nine core courses, elective courses, 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, 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 field coursework.  In addition to serving in the internship, the coursework includes professional development sessions directly related to their field experience.

Comprehensive Examination Plan

This requirement is met by completion of an applied policy project during the three-quarter policy seminar, which builds on the core courses, internship experience, and elective courses. 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 advisors and is presented orally in front of the Department faculty and the student body.  The applied policy project is certified complete by the faculty comprehensive exam committee.  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.

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
MPP	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 coursework, internship, or professional relations the standards essential to responsible and ethical practice of public policy analysis.