Catholic University has been one of the only major universities in the Washington area that hasn’t offered a master’s program in public policy. That’s about to change.
Starting in the fall, the School of Arts and Sciences will launch CUA’s first Master’s in Public Policy (MPP) program, one that will prepare students in a unique and powerful way to take on the nation’s public policy challenges.
“The Master’s in Public Policy program will be excellent in transmitting all of the professional skills that people need to be successful in the job market,” said Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences Thomas W. Smith, who was instrumental in moving the MPP from an idea to reality. “But we also want to have that strong ethical base, a focus on what it means to be a good person and a good citizen.”
“We're at a moment in history with a great deal of political polarization, a lot of new rising issues,” said Richard A. Gallenstein, Associate Professor of Economics and MPP Director. “The MPP will train students to think about public policy in a way that more accurately understands the human person and the common good. The Catholic University of America has a unique kind of philosophical, ethical, and moral foundation from which we can approach public policy that will make us distinct from the other programs in the area and, really, in the country.”
The Master’s in Public Policy is a 36-hour program a full-time student can complete in a year, but is also designed to be flexible for working professionals and others with time demands.
The MPP curriculum is based on three key elements. One is its multidisciplinary approach that combines many of the areas involved in developing public policy. “A number of departments will be contributing,” Gallenstein said. “The Economics department will play a large role, but also the Politics department. Sociology, Information Science, and History. I’ve also had conversations with the nursing school, the business school, Philosophy.”
A second major element of the MPP is its philosophical approach, said Jonathan Askonas, Assistant Professor, Department of Politics, and co-chair of the committee that developed the program. “The MPP will give students political and policy analysis skills, technocratic data analysis, data science, but retain at its core a Catholic view of the human person that focuses on areas that have been neglected by other programs. Family policy for instance. There's a lot of interest in think tanks, but very little coming out of universities, so we have a chance to become the defining place to do that.”
The third foundation of the MPP is its real-world approach. In creating the MPP, Smith, Gallenstein, and Askonas talked to think tank leaders, policy experts, legislative directors, and government contractors to find out what they want in their public policy employees.
“They told us they want people who can do statistical analyses, who can pick apart a social science report, who know how to write a policy paper quickly, who have presentation skills. And so those will all be transmitted in the program,” Smith said. “We told them we also want to have that strong ethical base. What's a common good? How do we care for the poor? They were really excited about those things being at the center of the program. They thought that was a missing element in public policy programs.”
MPP students will get the best of academic and real-world learning. Said Askonas, “In addition to the academics, it’s going to include practical work, where you're working with a mentor in an actual policy-making role. We're building a mentor network to support that as well as to offer independent career mentorship.”
“We're excited to launch the Master’s in Public Policy,” said Dean Smith. We think it has great potential to have an impact on our country. I think, in the history of United States politics, it's a particularly important moment for us to do this.”
Said Gallenstein, “The country needs people, the world needs people, who can lead public policy in the future with a full understanding of the human person and a clear vision of the common good. And if you enter our program, this is where you can build that vision.”
The Master’s of Public Policy is a 36-hour program a full-time student can complete in a year, but is also designed to be flexible for working professionals and others with time demands.
The MPP curriculum is based on three key elements. One is its multidisciplinary approach that combines many of the areas involved in developing public policy. “A number of departments will be contributing,” Gallenstein said. “The Economics department will play a large role, but also the Politics department, Sociology, Information Science, and History. We’ve had conversations with the nursing school, the school of Social Service, the Business school, and the school of Philosophy.”
A second major element of the MPP is its philosophical approach, said Jonathan Askonas, Assistant Professor, Department of Politics, and co-chair of the committee that developed the program. “The MPP will give students political and policy analysis skills, technical data analysis skills, and retain at its core a Catholic view of the human person, while focusing on areas that have been neglected by other programs. Family policy, for instance. There's a lot of interest in think tanks, but very little coming out of universities, so, we have a chance to become the defining place to do that.”