The option to design or tailor an existing specialization distinguishes Penn State’s Master of Public Policy program. Students can select an existing policy specialization or work with faculty to design a specialization to meet their career goals. MPP students have designed personalized specializations such as extremism and conflict, international policy and data science, and bureaucracy and governance. Currently, there are eleven existing specializations. Below you can view the suggested course offerings for each specialization and learn more about what each course entails. The suggested course listings are subject to availability each semester and provide an example to illustrate the learning path for existing specializations.
Criminal Justice Policy Specialization
- CRIM 501: Criminal Justice Organizations and Institutions
- CRIM 433: Sentencing
- CRIM 430: American Correctional System
- CRIM 435: Policing in America
- CRIM 432: The American Courts System
- CRIM 441: The Juvenile Justice System
- CRIM 451: Race, Crime, and Justice
- CRIM 453: Women and the Criminal Justice System
- CRIM 467: Law and Society
Data Science/Analytics Specialization
- PLSC 504: Topics in Political Methodology
- PLSC 505: Time Series Analysis
- PLSC 551: Big Data Approaches to the Study of Political Representation
- SOC 572: Foundations of Causal Analysis in the Social Sciences
- SOC 575: Statistical Methods for Nonexperimental Research
- SOC 577: Techniques of Event History Modeling
- SOC 578: Multilevel Regression Models
- SOC 579: Spatial Demography
Education Policy Specialization
- EDTHP 420: Education and Public Policy
- EDTHP 426: Economic Foundations of Education Policy
- EDTHP 427: Intelligence and Education Policy
- EDTHP 430: History of Education in the United States
- EDTHP 435: Child Labor and Education in the Global Economy
- EDTHP 497: Globalization and Education
- EDTHP 516: Education and Demographic Change
- EDTHP 518: Analysis of US Educational Policy
- EDTHP 520: Perspectives on Contemporary School Reform
- EDTHP/HIED 522: Economics of Education
- EDTHP 533: Social History and Educational Policy
- EDTHP/EDLDR 542: Civil Rights & Education
- EDTHP 550: Comparative Education Policy
- EDTHP/EDLDR 587: Educational Policy & Politics
- EDTHP 597: Interdisciplinary Perspectives to Understand Educational Disparities
- EDLDR 476: The Teacher and the Law
- EDLDR 520: Sociology of Rural Schools and Communities
- EDLDR 536: Federal Education Policy
- EDLDR 573: Public School Finance
- EDLDR 576: Law and Education
- HIED/EDTHP 521: Data Analysis for Education Research
- HIED 597: Higher Education & Public Policy
Environmental Policy Specialization
- ERM 411: Legal Aspects of Resource Management
- ERM 412: Resource Systems Analysis
- ERM 430: Air Pollution Impacts to Terrestrial Ecosystems
- ENVST 428: Environmental Economics and Policy
- ANTH 432: Environmental Archaeology
- ECON 415: Economics of Climate Change
- PHIL 403: Environmental Ethics
- PHIL 407: Philosophy of Technology
- PLSC 497: Special Topics: Global Environmental Governance
- PSYCH 419: Psychology for a Sustainable World
Gender Equity and Policy
- WMNST 423: Sexual and Domestic Violence
- WMNST 452: Women’s Health Issues
- WMNST 453: Women and the Criminal Justice System
- PSYCH 479: The Psychology of Gender
- HHD 401: Women’s Leadership Initiative: Leadership Concepts and Competencies 1
- WMNST 420W: Gender and International Development
- WMNST 428: Gender and Politics
- WMNST 458: Critical Feminist Issues in Reproduction
- WMNST 502: Global Perspectives on Feminism
Health Policy Specialization
- SOC 451: Health, Disease, and Society
- SOC/HPA 526: Health Disparities
- HPA 510: Health Services Financing and Policy
- HPA 528: Health Data Analysis for Research
- HPA 527: Managing Health Care Operations
- HPA 541: Poverty, Race, Ethnicity, and Child Health
- HPA 545: Intro to Health Economics
- SOC 532: Global Health and Mortality
- HDFS/HPA 506: Design and Evaluation of Prevention and Health Promotion Programs Across the Lifespan
Information Technology Specialization
- SRA 421: The Intelligence Environment
- SRA 450: Cyber-Crime and Cyber-Warfare
- SRA 471: Informatics, Risk, and the Post-Modern World
- SRA 472: Integration of Privacy and Security
- SRA 480: Crisis Informatics
- IST 431: The Information Environment
- IST 432: Legal and Regulatory Environment of Information Science and Technology
- IST 445: Globalization Trends and World Issues
- IST 452: Legal and Regulatory Environment of Privacy and Security
- IST 453: Legal, Regulatory, Policy Environment of Cyber Forensics
- IST 564: Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management
- IST 815: Foundations of Information Security and Assurance
International Public Policy Specialization
- INTAF 504: Political Economy of Development and Growth
- INTAF 505: Strategy, Conflict, and Peace
- INTAF 508: Domestic Influences on Foreign Policy
- INTAF 510: Cross Cultural Conflict Resolution
- INTAF 801: Actors, Institutions, and Legal Frameworks in International Affairs
- INTAF 803: Multi-Sector and Quantitative Analysis
- INTAF 810: Energy, International Security, and the Global Economy
- INTAF 814: U.S. Policy in the Middle East
- INTAF 815: Dynamics of International Economic Order: Law, Politics, and Power
- INTAF 890: Colloquium on Current Policy Challenges
Labor and Employment Relations Specialization
- LER 435: Labor Relations in the Public Sector
- LER 444: Workplace Safety and Health: Principles and Practices
- LER 475H: Labor in the Global Economy: U.S. and South African Perspectives
- LER 497: Immigration
- HRER 501: Labor and Employment Law
- HRER 504: Seminar in Employment Relations
- HRER 523 (WMNST 523): Seminar in Work-Life Dilemmas, Practices, and Policies
- HRER 536: Labor and Diversity in the Workplace
Racial Justice and Equity Specialization
- AFAM 409: Racial and Ethnic Inequality in America
- AFAM 422: Contemporary African American Communication
- AFAM 460/PHIL 460: African American Philosophy
- AFAM 465: The Post-World War II Civil Rights Movement
- AFAM 497: Special Topics (Race & Medicine in US History, Black Representation in Media) this would depend on the special topic as these will rotate
- AFAM 502: Blacks and African Diaspora
- AFAM 503: Sexual and Gender Politics in the African Diaspora
- CAS 422: Contemporary African American Communication
- CRIM 451: Race, Crime and Justice
- HIED 502: Diversity & Equity in Higher Education
- PSYCH 432: Multicultural Psychology in America
- SOC 409: Racial and Ethnic Inequality in America
- SOC 425: Social Conflict
- WMNST 518: Global Black Feminist Thought
Social Policy Specialization
- CRIM 441: The Juvenile Justice System
- LER 472: Work-Life Practices and Policies
- PSYCH 474: Psychological Intervention in Childhood
- SOC 431: Family Disorganization: Stress Points in the Contemporary Family
- SOC/HDFS 440: Family Policy
- SOC 531: Family Disorganization: Stress Points in the Contemporary Family
- AYFCE 550: Program Development & Evaluation in Youth, Families, and Communities
- HDFS 415: Program Development in Family Relationships
- HDFS 455: Development and Administration of Human Services Programs
- HDFS 521: Child Maltreatment: Theory, Research, and Impact
- HDFS 577: Poverty, Policies, and Child Development