Public policy decisions have a profound effect on nearly every aspect of daily life, touching on the economy, healthcare, and the environment. As the challenges facing our communities—both locally and globally—grow ever more complex, the need to understand and apply sound public policy is critical.
In the Master of Public Policy (MPP) program, you can gain the skills needed to address public policy issues and create solutions that will have a positive impact on society. Discover how to formulate, implement, and evaluate public policy within government agencies or in the nonprofit or private sector.
Through a curriculum that blends theory, practice, and a virtual city that simulates real-life scenarios, you can enhance and refine your analytic and quantitative skills while developing a thorough understanding of the political institutions and processes through which public policies are created. Coursework focuses on policy analysis, management and leadership, empirical analysis, ethics, and politics and is designed to prepare you to work in a wide variety of organizations that create, analyze, or operate according to public policy.
You can apply what you learn immediately in your profession and prepare for a role in public policy management or leadership.
Graduates of this program will be prepared to:
Find detailed information for the general specialization of this program, or all other specializations of this program, including possible occupations, completion rate, program costs, and median student loan debt.
Various leaders and policymakers who have launched successful public policy careers hold a Master of Public Policy.* A broad range of career options is available for those who hold advanced degrees in public policy, including positions in governments at all levels, nonprofit organizations and NGOs, and higher education and at private-sector companies.
Walden’s Master of Public Policy (MPP) can prepare you for careers as a:
Rethink public policy from the ground up, by exploring creative and innovative approaches for making, shaping and influencing policy design and delivery.
This specialist MSc in Public Policy offers you the opportunity to delve into how public policy is made, what shapes it, and how you can make a real difference as a policymaker.
You will explore the political, economic and social dynamics and forces that influence contemporary public policy issues. This will enable you to think creatively about public policy design and delivery, and your role within it.
Highly applied in nature, the course draws on diverse cases from policymaking globally, as well as from Europe and the UK. You’ll work with academics from the Institute for Policy Research, Department of Social & Policy Sciences and Department of Politics, Languages & International Studies with international expertise in this area, and have links to senior and experienced policymakers from around the world.
The course also examines how data, knowledge and evidence in the digital environment are re-shaping how public policy is analysed, made and practised.
You will leave the course with:
The course is delivered in an inspiring format, with highly structured and interactive online content; face-to-face learning and networking at short residentials in Bath and London; and intensive support from leading Bath academics throughout.
Ideal for those already working in policy, or aspiring to do so, the course offers plenty of opportunity to draw on examples from your own professional experience, and to apply the new ideas and skills to your own specific public policy interests.
Graduate prospects
The specialist teaching and tools you acquire will put you in a strong position for moving forward in any policy-facing or policy-shaping role, whether in analysis, strategy or delivery.
You will be equipped to work as a national civil servant in a policy role, government affairs official, think tank researcher, parliamentary advisor, policy advisor, policy advocate in a large INGO or advocacy organisation.
You could also work in regional or local government strategy, public service policy or strategy, or the private sector providing contracted public sector services.
You could also take your studies further to doctoral level.
Course brochure
If you'd like to find out more about this course then we can arrange for the Director of Studies, Dr Emma Carmel to call you.
Register your details for a call back
This course lasts 2 years. Occasionally we make changes to our programmes in response to, for example, feedback from students, developments in research and the field of studies, and the requirements of accrediting bodies. You will be advised of any significant changes to the advertised programme, in accordance with our Terms and Conditions.
These compulsory units are currently being studied by our students, or are proposed new units.
The MA in Cultural Policy, Relations and Diplomacy is a trans-disciplinary programme that addresses the theory and practice of cultural policy, cultural relations, and cultural and public diplomacy.
This broad area of study and the terminology applied to it is fluid and expanding. Having culture as the underlying thread, the programme explores areas such as:
This will provide a unique perspective into this field of study, and will examine topics such as mobility of cultural practitioners, cultural identity, intercultural dialogue, mutuality, propaganda, soft power, hegemony, influence and perceptions.
Goldsmiths' location provides you with a unique experience of living in a multicultural world city, which is of great relevance to the study of cultural policy, relations and diplomacy.
You'll study in the Institute for Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship (ICCE). ICCE's individual and institutional links with an extensive network of organisations, policy advisors and cultural practitioners in those areas in London and in Europe allow you to experience exceptional research and study resources.
ICCE’s established organisational links include, for example, the British Council, Visiting Arts, EUNIC London Hub and Demos. ICCE is also a member of ENCATC (the leading European network on Cultural Management and Cultural Policy education). The Institute is also responsible for fostering the sharing of information and discussion of issues related to international cultural relations across disciplines on the JISCMail list cultural-relations-diplomacy.
Our staff and invited academic and professional experts will enhance your learning. They'll discuss relevant literature and will present case studies and practical examples with local, national and global dimensions involving a range of individuals and organisations, including corporations, governments, international bodies and NGOs.
This MA is a 180-credit programme consisting of four 30-credit modules and a 60-credit dissertation.
The three main modules of the programme, Cultural Policy and Practice, Cultural Relations and Diplomacy I: Foundations and Cultural Relations and Diplomacy II: Explorations provide a strong basis to explore the complexity of this area of study, which is complemented by a varied module offer from across College that brings to the fore related and intersecting themes.
The fourth module of the programme is an option from a selection of modules covering arts engagement, media, business, languages and politics - this is designed to allow you to tailor the programme to your own particular skills and/or interests.
The teaching methodologies used in these modules will be conducive to creative and independent in-depth and collaborative learning. They'll culminate in the production of a final dissertation in which you will explore in detail a topic building on your interests and knowledge.
The programme allows and encourages you to engage in work placements while attending the modules. These are not a formal part of the programme, but some support will be provided building on ICCE’s extensive experience of internship management and network of contacts.
Core modules
Option modules
Graduates of this programme develop a wide range of skills and competencies.
Knowledge and understanding
You'll be able to:
Cognitive and thinking skills
You'll be able to:
Practical skills
You'll be able to:
Key transferable skills
You'll be able to:
Find out more about employability at Goldsmiths.
Visit our website for more information on fees, scholarships, postgraduate loans and other funding options to study Public Policy (Extended) at Swansea University - 'Welsh University of the Year 2017' (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017).
The MA in Public Policy is designed to provide a high level training in the study of public policy and policy making at international, national and sub-state levels.
The MA in Public Policy provides a solid grounding in the key theoretical approaches to the study of public policy, and seeks to develop the knowledge and skills of those wishing to engage in further academic study. At the same time, the Public Policy MA focuses on the necessary skills involved in working in a public policy landscape now increasingly characterised by change and interdependence. Consequently, it will also develop the knowledge and skills of those wishing to, or already, pursuing a career in public policy research, policy advice, lobbying, public sector management or journalism.
The full-time Public Policy course structure is split across the year with three modules taken in each academic semester (a total of six modules) and then a dissertation over the summer. Students study four compulsory modules and two optional modules. The dissertation is written on a specialist research topic of the student's choosing.
Part-time study is available.
The Swansea programme in Public Policy is uniquely placed to offer students a comprehensive knowledge of public policy in multi-level and comparative settings, with staff well-versed in the theoretical, empirical and methodological understanding of public policy, with specialisms including European Union policy, multi-level governance, political economy, development studies and British and regional politics.
The Extended MA (EMA) in Public Policy is a 240-credit postgraduate qualification that is equivalent to 120 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) and is thus a recognised Masters qualification throughout the European Union. The EMA is a standard UK MA plus an additional 60 credits (30 ECTS) and this additional coursework is undertaken in one semester at a partner institution overseas. The EMA is therefore not only an EU recognised postgraduate qualification it also adds a study abroad experience thus enhancing the qualification’s employability credentials.
The partner institution for EMA Public Policy is The Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. Founded in 1997, the Bush School is ranked in the top 12 percent of the
266 graduate public affairs schools in the USA, according to rankings published in U.S. News & World Report. Located in College Station, Texas, the School’s programmes are housed in the Robert H. and Judy Ley Allen Building, which is part of the George Bush Presidential Library Center on the West Campus of Texas A&M. This location affords students access to the archival holdings of the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, invitation to numerous events hosted by the George Bush Foundation at the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center, and inclusion in the many activities of the Texas A&M community. Texas A&M is the sixth-largest university in the USA with 50,000 students. It holds membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities, one of only 61 institutions with this distinction.
Modules on the MA in Public Policy typically include:
• Governance,Globalization and Neoliberal Political Economy
• Comparative Politics in the New World Order
• The Policy Making Process
• Politics and Public Policy in the New Wales
• Approaching Political Theory: the challenge of democracy
• Politics in Contemporary Britain
• Violence, Conflict and Development
• Critical Security Studies
• Civil Society and International Development
• War, Technology and Culture
• State of Africa
• Human Rights and Humanitarian Intervention
- To develop and advance practical and academic knowledge and understanding of public policy
- To develop critical, theoretical and analytical skills, and to improve written and oral communication skills.
- To acquire research and practical skills in public policy relevant to academic, public- and private sector careers in policy-related areas.
Students interested in politics, international relations, development studies, law, humanities, social science, International business or a related background. Professionals interested in public policy and administration. Students interested in preparation for postgraduate research, MPhil or PhD, or who wish to develop skills and knowledge related to Public Policy.
Career expectations are excellent for public policy graduates, who are well-placed for careers in a variety of sectors in the UK, Europe or internationally. MA degree holders may move on to doctoral study or enter employment sectors such as government and politics; the public sector; journalism; the diplomatic corps; the armed forces; intelligence and risk analysis; relief and humanitarian organisations; law and finance and international business.
Visit our website for more information on fees, scholarships, postgraduate loans and other funding options to study Public Policy at Swansea University - 'Welsh University of the Year 2017' (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017).
The MA in Public Policy is designed to provide a high level training in the study of public policy and policy making at international, national and sub-state levels.
The MA in Public Policy provides a solid grounding in the key theoretical approaches to the study of public policy, and seeks to develop the knowledge and skills of those wishing to engage in further academic study. At the same time, the Public Policy MA focuses on the necessary skills involved in working in a public policy landscape now increasingly characterised by change and interdependence. Consequently, it will also develop the knowledge and skills of those wishing to, or already, pursuing a career in public policy research, policy advice, lobbying, public sector management or journalism.
The full-time Public Policy course structure is split across the year with three modules taken in each academic semester (a total of six modules) and then a dissertation over the summer. Students study four compulsory modules and two optional modules. The dissertation is written on a specialist research topic of the student's choosing.
Part-time study is available.
The Swansea programme in Public Policy is uniquely placed to offer students a comprehensive knowledge of public policy in multi-level and comparative settings, with staff well-versed in the theoretical, empirical and methodological understanding of public policy, with specialisms including European Union policy, multi-level governance, political economy, development studies and British and regional politics.
Modules on the MA in Public Policy typically include:
• Governance,Globalization and Neoliberal Political Economy
• Comparative Politics in the New World Order
• The Policy Making Process
• Politics and Public Policy in the New Wales
• Approaching Political Theory: the challenge of democracy
• Politics in Contemporary Britain
• Violence, Conflict and Development
• Critical Security Studies
• Civil Society and International Development
• War, Technology and Culture
• State of Africa
• Human Rights and Humanitarian Intervention
- To develop and advance practical and academic knowledge and understanding of public policy
- To develop critical, theoretical and analytical skills, and to improve written and oral communication skills.
- To acquire research and practical skills in public policy relevant to academic, public- and private sector careers in policy-related areas.
Students interested in politics, international relations, development studies, law, humanities, social science, International business or a related background. Professionals interested in public policy and administration. Students interested in preparation for postgraduate research, MPhil or PhD, or who wish to develop skills and knowledge related to Public Policy.
Career expectations are excellent for public policy graduates, who are well-placed for careers in a variety of sectors in the UK, Europe or internationally. MA degree holders may move on to doctoral study or enter employment sectors such as government and politics; the public sector; journalism; the diplomatic corps; the armed forces; intelligence and risk analysis; relief and humanitarian organisations; law and finance and international business.
This programme will explore the key debates in national and international education policy. You will engage with a critical analysis of the different concepts underlying the evolving landscape of educational policy globally, such as new forms of funding and delivery, privatisation, evaluation and inspection.
Students will examine key education policies in the UK and other countries, with a particular focus on social justice, and consider the possibilities for more socially fair and democratic policy enactments. You will also explore a range of identities including, but not limited to, social class, gender and ‘race’/ethnicity, and how these aspects of identity shape the policy formation and enactment process in the UK and internationally.
This course has a particular focus on social justice within education, and allows participants to reflect on the varied and linked aspects of education in a contemporary domestic, and globalised, world. You will benefit from our relationships with international organisations and contacts such as UNESCO, which open up educational study and employment opportunities.
While providing an introduction to the key theories and concepts in the fields of education policy and social justice, this course will offer students an understanding of the established techniques of research and enquiry, and how these are used to create and interpret knowledge. With these skills, you will be well placed to be able to critically evaluate research and advanced scholarship, in order to understand the basis of educational policy nationally and internationally.
You will develop the confidence and knowledge to become a professional practitioner, researcher or developer in the field of education policy. With the necessary skills and understanding for reflecting on your own and others’ practice, you will be able contribute to improving educational processes and outcomes. As such, the course is well-suited to current teachers and school leaders, professionals working in policy related areas, and national and international recent graduates.
Students will undertake a study of the recent history of Education policy, studying the key parliamentary acts from 1988 to the present time. Students will evaluate these policies in relation to social justice, looking critically at how inclusive or exclusive they have been, and from there consider the possibilities for more socially just policy enactment. Other modules will broaden this understanding, as students investigate global theoretical perspectives on education policy, and the different models and policy schemes in use, and the outcomes and implications of these policy choices in different contexts. Further, students will explore how discourses on teaching vary over time and across national contexts, and analyse the effects of education policies on the teaching profession, including looking at teachers’ contribution to social change.
Students can also explore the way in which policy is enacted and governance undertaken across the world. Particular modules will look at the new actors (philanthropists, social entrepreneurs, edu-businesses, community organisations, etc.) that have served as the driving force for recent political change, and study four conceptual principles underlying the concept of ‘network governance’.
Other modules will focus on developing your critical perspective on the political nature of education as well as offering chances to engage with new methods and tools to perform policy analysis. Especially, you will strengthen your ability to undertake and evaluate research, and you will be able to study a variety of theoretical concepts underlying social and educational research, carrying out a research project of your own.
Compulsory and Required modules
Compulsory and/or required modules may change when we review and update programmes. Above is a list of modules offered this academic year.
Optional modules
Optional modules, when offered as part of a programme, may vary from year to year and are subject to viability.
The programme is designed for current teachers and school leaders, professionals working in policy related areas (including, for example, government at different levels, think tanks, foundations and trusts, voluntary and community sector), and national and international recent graduates, looking to develop and broaden their knowledge and a critical perspective on the political nature of education as well as engage with new methods and tools to perform policy analysis.
The MSc Health Policy will develop your understanding of, and critical engagement with, key challenges in health policy. Both state and non-state actors grapple with how best to promote the health of communities and populations, including the most effective strategies for preventing disease, ensuring efficient and high quality health care, and reducing health inequalities.
These challenges extend beyond the traditional domain of the health sector, requiring engagement with economic and social policy and a range of non-state actors including third sector organisations, commercial interests and international agencies.
The MSc in Health Policy is designed for individuals interested in a wide range of health-related roles including government and international agencies, health advocacy, health administration and health care delivery, consultancies, advisory roles, the commercial sector, and health-related research. Within the programme there is scope for you to specialise in either health systems or health inequalities, or to follow a broad policy stream.
The Health Systems stream is ideal for those seeking to work in health care policy, planning or management, in either the public or private sectors. It will expose you to different models of health care financing, purchasing and delivery, equipping them to engage with key contemporary challenges and debates including how to achieve sustainable health care financing, the role of the state in health care, the appropriate mix of public and private provision, and how best to achieve the goals of equity, efficiency and quality in health care delivery.
The Health Inequalities stream is ideal for those seeking to engage with health disparities both between and within countries, particularly those relating to inequities in social structures and power. In this stream you will explore evidence and policy responses to health inequalities across a range of axes, including class/socioeconomic position, ethnicity/race and gender, and will consider how health and its determinants are shaped by a range of influences including social and economic policy, commercial power and political conflict. This stream is particularly suited to those interested in working in policy, advocacy and research settings with a focus on health equity.
You may also elect to follow a broad policy stream within the MSc Health Policy, rather than specialising in health systems or health inequalities. This stream equips you with an understanding of how health policy fits within broader approaches to social and economic policy, and is particularly suitable for individuals wanting to work in public policy, advocacy or research.
Our students come from countries at all levels of economic development and from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds, with many using the MSc as an investment to develop their careers or move into a more policy-focused role. While the programme has a strong policy focus, it also includes an academic orientation so is good preparation for further research at PhD level.
The MSc programme is situated within the Global Public Health Unit, which is located in University’s School of Social and Political Science rather than a medical school. This reflects our programme’s reach across traditional boundaries, linking policy analysis, public health, social policy, economics, sociology, medicine and epidemiology. The MSc programme offers innovative research-led teaching that draws on academic expertise from all these disciplines, while also benefitting from close links with the Centre for Population Health Sciences in the University's medical college.
You will complete one compulsory course and a number of option courses.
Following the taught courses, you will work towards an independently researched dissertation.
This programme is designed to equip you with the knowledge and critical skills you need to play a senior role in health policy, advocacy and research.
Specific aims are to:
This programme is intended to equip you with the skills and knowledge necessary to pursue employment positions in policy, advocacy and research roles relevant to health policy. Most students use the MSc as an investment to develop their careers or move into a more policy-focused area, including jobs with health agencies or consultancies, government departments, international organisations and third sector organisations. By combining an advanced degree from a world-leading university with expertise in an innovative field relevant to multiple policy agendas, students who successfully complete our programmes are well placed to secure interesting positions within an often very competitive area.
Our graduates in recent years have moved on to a range of exciting employment and research positions. These include positions with health departments and other government ministries in both high-income and developing countries; with agencies and donor organisations working in health care and health promotion; with international organisations and consultancy; research positions examining health systems for the European Union and other levels of regional governance; and employment in commercial sector organisations including pharmaceutical and other health-related companies.
All students have access to the Edinburgh University Careers Service during the programme and for two years after graduation.
Conceived in the context of world-systemic transformation, this MA will give you the analytical tools to understand contemporary developments and world(s) through an encounter with post-colonial theory and international political economic issues.
We're witnessing today a tectonic shift in global geopolitics. The emergence of China, Brazil and India as global players, the development of global governance, the financial crisis, climate change – are all symptoms.
On this Masters you’ll grasp concepts like race, diaspora, hybridity, difference, grassroots development, HDI, multitude, immanence, and human rights.
These concepts are used to analyse practical, policy and activist issues arising from globalisation: global civil society, the role of international organisations (the IMF, WTO, UN and World Bank and global NGOs), intellectual property rights, social capital, financialisation, global governance and deep democracy.
You'll deal with issues like terrorism, microfinance, indigenous people, gender and sexuality, multiculturalism and environmental justice.
The MA is ideal for anyone pursuing careers in policy research, NGOs, advocacy, charities, international organisations, cultural and political activism, global media, art and curating, as well as for further academic work leading to a PhD.
The Masters includes a supervised and assessed practical placement. This may be with NGOs in India or Africa, arts and conservation organisations in China, indigenous activists in Latin America, London-based global NGOs, diasporic communities, think-tanks, environmental organisations, publishers or financial/microfinance organisations.
You'll be taught by leading theorists and visiting lecturers drawn from a wide circle of activists, artists, film-makers, lawyers, economists, journalists and policy-makers.
Core modules
Recommended option modules
You take option modules to the value of 30 credits. Modules can be chosen from across Goldsmiths departments and centres. Option modules are subject to availability and approval by the module lecturer/convenor.
We offer a wide range of option modules each year. Below are some examples of modules that are currently running. For a full list, please contact the Department of Media and Communications.
Other option modules, by department
You may prefer to look through the full range of optional modules available across Goldsmiths departments.
Please note that not all the modules listed below may be open to you - your final selection will depend upon spaces available and timetable compatibility.
Essays and/or practical projects; dissertation.
The programme provides advanced training for labour market-relevant skills in transnational analysis of sovereignty, democracy, governmentality, financialisation, intellectual property rights, and the role of non-governmental organisations.
Suitable careers and areas of work for graduates of the programme include:
Find out more about employability at Goldsmiths.
Welfare states everywhere face enormous challenges from population ageing, changes in family life and work-patterns, migration and the economic crisis. In a globalised and interdependent world, these issues can only be understood from an international perspective which accounts for these common pressures and processes, but which also recognises and engages with the diversity of national traditions and institutions for delivering welfare.
The International Social Policy programme takes a policy analytic approach to provide you with an advanced understanding of current debates, theories and concepts relevant to international social policy. You learn about the common features of social policy arrangements internationally and the variety and differences that characterise welfare across the countries and regions of the world. Drawing on the research-based expertise available at SSPSSR which relates to countries ranging from China, South Korea and Singapore in South East Asia to the UK, Germany and Sweden in Western Europe, you are equipped to understand how national and global forces interact to shape trajectories of welfare system development.
The programme enables you to apply theories and methods of social policy in exploring enduring cross cutting themes in social policy, including the prioritisation of equality and capabilities, as well as to drill down to how and why policy unfolds in key welfare fields. You develop policy analytic skills in relation to such areas as health, migration, pensions, education, social care, and children & family related policy. You acquire expertise in the use of primary and secondary data collection in areas pertaining to all these aspects of social policy, and are thus equipped to think critically about the development of social welfare systems in a global age across the full range of national contexts and policy situations.
We place considerable emphasis on structured, interactive seminars with a high degree of student participation. You also join the staff/graduate seminars which allow MA and research students to become involved in a professional research culture.
The programme gives you a clear and confident grasp of social policy in developed and developing countries. You gain an advanced understanding of the relevant debates, theories and concepts of international issues alongside skills in research design and data collection.
You take compulsory modules alongside optional modules of your choice. Modules may include:
https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/118/international-social-policy#structure
This programme aims to:
Building on Kent’s success as the region’s leading institution for student employability, we place considerable emphasis on you gaining specialist knowledge in your chosen subject alongside core transferable skills. We ensure that you develop the skills and competences that employers are looking for including: research and analysis; policy development and interpretation; independent thought; writing and presentation, as well as time management and leadership skills. You also become fully involved in the professional research culture of the School. A postgraduate degree in the area of social and public policy is a particularly flexible and valuable qualification that can lead to many exciting opportunities and professions.
Our graduates obtain a range of transferable skills and report high levels of being in employment or further study within six months of graduation across all of our degree programmes.
Over 98% of Kent's postgraduate students who graduated in 2016 were in work or further study within six months. Recent graduates from our School have pursued careers in academia, journalism, local and central government, charities and NGOs.
How to apply: https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/apply/
We offer inspirational teaching and supervision alongside first-class library and IT facilities. You also benefit from our high-impact research in all subjects. Whatever you are looking to study, Kent provides a dynamic and challenging environment for your postgraduate studies.
* of 122 universities, not including specialist institutions
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