Brown Welcomes MPA Students

June 24, 2015

The Brown Public Policy Program recently welcomed the inaugural class of the intensive one-year master of public affairs program. The cohort of thirty-eight students has a diverse range of educational and professional experience. They have earned bachelor’s degrees in more than twenty subjects ranging from classics and history to aerospace engineering, applied mathematics, and national security. Four students with US military service — two active duty officers and two veterans — are a part of the cohort. The class includes six international students including a Fulbright scholar from Sweden and students from Pakistan, China, and Lebanon. Nearly a quarter of the incoming class earned their undergraduate degrees at Brown and five students hail from Rhode Island, including the newly crowned Miss Rhode Island.

"We're so thrilled to welcome such a diverse and talented group of students who are committed to making a difference in the world. They truly embody Brown's ethos of idealism and service," says Brown Public Policy Program Director James Morone.

The incoming class will spend June and July focusing on the key questions and tools involved in the study of public policy, including economics, statistics, and financial management, and will end the summer session with a visit to one of three international locations — Sweden, Brazil, and India — to gain a firsthand view of policy making in an international context.

In the fall, students will begin to focus on one of six policy specialization areas — governance, law, and ethics; health policy; international security; urban policy; development; or environmental policy and sustainability; or choose to design their own specialization. During the first half of the spring semester, students will pursue a “policy in action” consultancy before finishing their final specialization elective in April and May.

The one-year MPA program will run concurrently with the final year of the two-year master of public affairs and master of public policy programs. Students from both the two- and the one-year programs will graduate together in May 2016. Meet all of our public policy graduate students on the Public Policy website.