MPA students concentrating in Social Policy learn the tools and policy history necessary to design, manage, and evaluate programs. Those may include programs in health, nutrition, education, poverty alleviation, aging, and criminal justice. Fundamental material in this concentration introduces students to problem formulation, identification of policy alternatives to address social concerns, cost-benefit analysis and other tools needed to evaluate policy choices and implementation strategies.

Representative Coursework

• Child and Family Law and Policy
• Education Policy
• Neighborhoods, Housing, and Urban Policy
• Health Law
• Empirical Methods for the Analysis of Household Survey Data
• Poverty and Social Policy
• Social Welfare Policy in the U.S.
• The European Social Model

Representative Employers (Full Time & Internships)

• Congressional Research Service
• District of Columbia Public Schools
• Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina
• The Lewin Group
• NY State Council on Children and Families
• Open Door Family Medical Center
• Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
• Teach for America
• US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• US Department of Health and Human Services
• US Department of Housing and Urban Development
• The World Bank

Representative Occupational Titles

• Management Analyst
• Program Analyst
• Program officer
• Senior Consultant
• Senior Policy Analyst