Consists of 22 five-week, online core courses, and 4 online electives. Online courses are 1 credit. The degree includes three 1-week residential sessions in Ithaca and a substantial capstone project which unfolds over the duration of the program and culminates in a final presentation. The entire program (online courses + on-campus intensive sessions + capstone project) comprises 36 credits. Students should expect to spend an average of 18-20 hours per week on their studies.

Online Courses

Instructor-led core courses:

• PADM 5113 – Public Administration: A Strategic Planning Perspective
• PADM 5119 – Leadership for Public Service
• PADM 5133 – Law and Public Agency Decisions
• PADM 5123 – Microeconomics for Management and Policy I
• PADM 5173 – Market Regulation
• PADM 5313 – Managerial Statistics
• PADM 5413 – Strategic Nonprofit Management I
• PADM 5414 – Strategic Stakeholder Engagement
• PADM 5442 – Effective Policy Writing
• PADM 5423 – Accounting for Government and Nonprofit Organizations
• PADM 5433 – Project Management for Policy
• PADM 5434 – Fundraising
• PADM 5443 – Systems Thinking for Policy I
• PADM 5444 – Systems Thinking for Policy II
• PADM 5473 – Public Interest Technology
• PADM 5453 – International Public Management I
• PADM 5573 – Corporate Responsibility
• PADM 5614 – Intergovernmental Relations

On-Campus Courses

Students will make three 1-week visits to Cornell’s campus, where they will meet their classmates and professors in person. These Ithaca residencies include intensive courses in:

Year 1 Summer residency week:

1. PADM 5123 – Microeconomics for Management and Policy II
2. PADM 5413 – Strategic Nonprofit Management II
3. PADM 5453 – International Public Management II

Year 2 Summer residency week:

1. PADM 5733 – Vulnerability Planning
2. PADM 5613 – Politics of the Policymaking Process
3. PADM 5174 – Public-Private Partnerships

Year 2 December residency week:

1. PADM 5433 – Project Management for Policy
2. Capstone Project Presentations

During the third visit, students will participate in program wrap-up sessions and present their capstone projects.

Concentration Elective Courses

Tailor your program by choosing from two concentrations:

• Public and Nonprofit Management, with elective courses in managing technology, managing personnel, decision analytics, and leadership and strategy
• International Policy, with elective courses in frontiers of international policy, human rights, international management, and leadership and strategy

Course Sequence

• You will take your core courses in a prescribed sequence, together with your cohort.
• You will take your four credits of elective courses during the second year of the program

Course Grading

• Letter grades