‌Job growth, affordable housing, educational reform, environmental degradation—these are just a few of the significant challenges that face society today. As these issues grow more complex, the relationships among government, business, and non-profit organizations also take on critical importance. The public policy program at Loyola can help students transform their interest in these types of problems into the ability to analyze and act upon them. The curriculum brings together knowledge about current government programs with the technical skills to assess how politics influence policy choices, how to design more effective programs, and how to evaluate the impacts of existing ones. 

The Master of Public Policy (MPP) program at Loyola is a two-year professional degree focused on training students to assume leadership roles in government, non-profit organizations, or businesses. Part-time students typically finish in three years. Internships or capstone projects allow students to apply the skills developed in the program and gain work-related experience. 

Degree Requirements

Required Coursework:

The MPP degree program requires 37 credit-hours of coursework—11 three-credit courses, plus a three-credit internship or capstone experience.

Core Requirements:

• MPP 400 Policy Design and Analysis
• MPP 401 Analytical Tools for Policy Analysis
• MPP 403 Public Budgeting and Finance
• MPP 404 Public Policy Process
• MPP 405 Statistical Methods of Analysis for Public Policy I
• MPP 406 Statistical Methods of Analysis for Public Policy II
• MPP 500 Policy Evaluation
• MPP 502 Professional Development (1 credit hour)
• MPP 501 or 503 Internship or Capstone Experience (3 credit hours)

Electives:

Students also are required to take 12 hours of electives. Electives can be drawn from many departments across the university, including criminal justice, economics, education, philosophy, political science, psychology, sociology and social work. These electives are where students can focus in on their preferred field of policy. The following are some examples of optional courses:

 

Environment:

• ENVS 410 Intro to Environmental Law and Policy
• ENVS 412 Natural Resources and Land Use Policy

Public Health:

• MPBH 402 Public Health Practice and Management
• MPBH 407 Public Health Policy

Criminal Justice:

• CJC 401 Politics and Policies in the Criminal Justice System
• CJC 402 Theories of Criminal Behavior

Economic and Community Development:

• MPP 407 Local Economic Development
• MPP 414 Affordable Housing Finance and Policy

Education:

• ELPS 405 Introduction to Education Policy Analysis
• ELPS 412 Sociological Analysis of Urban Education and Policy

Immigration:

• SOWK 730 Migration Dynamics and U.S. Social Policy
• SOWK 732 Migration, Social Justice, and Human Rights

 

Learning Objectives

1. Ability to design policy interventions and apply criteria to determine best option in each specific case
2. Ability to understand a budget and evaluate it from different stakeholder positions
3. Knowledge of the political process at the federal, state and local government levels
4. Knowledge of tactics to build a political coalition of support for a program
5. Knowledge of appropriate statistical procedures used in public policy research and practice
6. Ability to design, conduct and critique program evaluations
7. Experience working in the public policy arena in government agency, non-profit, research, or private sector organization

Internship or Capstone Experience:

For students without significant professional work experience prior to starting the program, an internship is required. Most students complete their internships in the summer between their first and second years. For students with professional work experience, a capstone project or policy clinic resulting in a major analytical report could be done instead. You can find more information about the internship along with career and scholarship resources in our Internship and Career Resources section.