MPPDS Prerequisites

The MPPDS program requires a foundational background in statistics for all students. Incoming MPPDS students must complete three prerequisites: a college-level statistics course and two pre-semester program labs.

Statistics Prerequisite

All entering MPPDS students are required to demonstrate proficiency in foundational statistical methods. The statistics prerequisite can be satisfied in one of two ways:

Statistics or Econometrics Course Taken Prior to Enrollment in the MPPDS

Completion of a college-level statistics or econometrics course with a grade of “B” or better within three years of matriculation. At minimum, prior coursework must have included essential topics in descriptive and inferential statistics such as measures of central tendency and precision, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing. If relevant statistical coursework was completed more than three years prior, a waiver may be granted based on the level of statistical training completed and the degree to which currency with this material was maintained through subsequent professional use.

PPD 504 Essential Statistics for Public Management

If a student has not completed a college-level statistics course with a grade of “B” or better within three years of matriculation, they will need to complete a summer course prior to starting the MPPDS program. USC offers PPD 504 Essential Statistics for Public Management each summer; a grade of “C” or better in PPD 504 is sufficient to satisfy the statistics prerequisite. Students may also choose to satisfy the requirement by taking a summer course at another institution and earning a grade of “B” or better.

Pre-semester MPPDS Labs

The Professional Fundamentals Lab and Statistics (Stata software) Lab provide an introduction to the program, acclimate students to skills that will be further developed in their first-semester courses, and help to create a genuine camaraderie within the first-year student cohort. Entering MPPDS students are required to participate in the Professional Fundamentals Lab before the start of the Fall semester. This Lab leads directly into PPD 554: Foundations of Policy Analysis. MPPDS students are required to participate in the Statistics (Stata software) Lab during the week before their enrollment in PPD 558 Multivariate Statistical Analysis begins. This occurs during the week before the first Spring semester for a student following the standard MPPDS course sequencing.

Statistics (Stata software) Lab topics include:

• Brief review of inferential and descriptive statistics
• Introduction to Stata software
• Creating graphs in Stata
• Introduction to datasets in Stata
• Importing and manipulating datasets in Stata
• Data management
• Do-files

Professional Fundamentals Lab topics include:

• Research tools and fundamentals
• Essential policy communication skills
• Policy writing fundamentals
• Effective presentation and PowerPoint tools
• Developing a learning community

Public Policy Lab Series

Throughout the program, MPPDS students are invited to attend labs which are designed to introduce various professional skills and topics considered fundamental to public policy analysis. Labs are available to attend in-person and also recorded to enable online viewing.

Prior lab series topics include:

• AI in Public Policy and Politics
• Introduction to Tableau
• Effective Team Management
• R for Statistical Computing
• Python
• Introduction to GIS
• Intermediate and Advanced Excel
• Using Census Data for Social Science Research
• Survey Design and Analysis
• Smart Cities
• Visual Representation of Data
• Salary Negotiation
• How to Leverage Data Stories to Improve Strategic Outcomes