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University of Southern California

Master of Public Policy (MPP)

MPP Curriculum

The USC Price MPP’s interdisciplinary curriculum builds the skills and knowledge base required of a professional policy analyst. This training positions our graduates to be successful and impactful in a broad range of positions in not only the public sector but also the private and nonprofit sectors.

The Master of Public Policy degree requires 48 units of graduate work: 20 units of core courses, the 4-unit Policy Analysis Practicum, and 24 additional units divided between analytic and specialization electives. The core coursework ensures that all Price MPPs develop the essential toolkit of an adept policy practitioner, with a focus on analytical skills as well as policy processes and institutions. Elective courses allow students to deepen their skills and expertise in particular analytic methods and policy areas of their choosing.

The Policy Analysis Practicum is a distinctive component of the Price MPP. Students choose from a variety of client projects that the program recruits annually to align with the policy interests of each student cohort. Under the supervision of faculty advisers who provide additional training throughout the year, students work in small groups on a two-semester project whose scope is developed in collaboration with the client. Students complete extensive research and analysis and ultimately provide detailed recommendations through a written report and client presentation. The Practicum reinforces and integrates, through application, the skills developed in the MPP program, while providing policy analytic service to a community organization, private company, or public agency in addressing a policy dilemma or challenge. This experience requires students to confront the complexities of conducting rigorous policy analysis and provides opportunities to practice professional skills in client relations and team management.

Master of Public Policy Degree Requirements

Core Courses (20 units)

  • PPD 503 – Economics for Public Policy
  • PPD 554 – Foundations of Policy Analysis
  • PPD 555 – Public Policy Formulation and Implementation
  • PPD 558 – Multivariate Statistical Analysis
  • PPD 560 – Methods for Policy Analysis

Policy Analysis Practicum (4 units)

  • PPD 561a – Policy Analysis Practicum (1)
  • PPD 561b – Policy Analysis Practicum (3)

Electives

Students complete 8 units of analytic electives and 16 units of specialization electives. In addition to the preapproved courses listed below, students may also petition to use other relevant courses from Price or other academic units throughout USC.

Analytic Electives (8 units)

  • PPD 542 – Policy and Program Evaluation
  • PPD 587 – Risk Analysis
  • PPD 647 – Finance of the Public Sector
  • PPDE 660 – Environmental Policy and Design Analysis
  • PPDE 636 – Urban Spatial Ethnography and Critical Cartography
  • PPDE 661 – Methods for Equity Analysis
  • PPDE 665 – Economic Impact Analysis: Methods and Applications
  • PPDE 668 – Applied Econometrics for Program Evaluation
  • PPDE 671 – Economic Analysis of Education Policy
  • PPDE 672 – An Exploration of the Intelligence Community – From Policy to Cyber Espionage
  • PPDE 673 – Foundations of Environmental Policy
  • SSCI 581 – Concepts for Spatial Thinking (Spatial Sciences)
  • COMM 650 – Survey Construction and Validation (Annenberg)

Specialization Electives (16 units)

Additional policy courses of the student’s choosing are selected under the guidance of the public policy program administrator. All masters-level courses offered by Price are eligible for specialization elective credit, as are many policy-relevant courses offered by other USC schools (the Marshall School of Business, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, Rossier School of Education, Keck School of Medicine, Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, Viterbi School of Engineering, etc.) or departments (Economics, Sociology, Political Science and International Relations, Spatial Sciences, etc.).

MPP students are able (but not required) to use their specialization electives to develop expertise in a particular substantive policy area. Some popular specializations are provided below.  Please click here for examples of courses that fit within each of these popular specialization areas. 

While many MPP students use their specialization electives to focus on a specific policy area, others use their specialization electives to broaden their knowledge by taking courses in a variety of different policy areas. Specialization electives allow you the flexibility to design your MPP course load to fit your interests.

Popular MPP Specialization Areas:

  • Community and Economic Development
  • Environmental Policy
  • Health Policy
  • Homeland Security and Public Policy
  • Nonprofit Management and Policy
  • Policy Communication
  • Research and Analytic Methods
  • Social Justice
  • Urban and Social Policy

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