The Masters of Public Policy is, by nature, an interdisciplinary program. The MPP Program admits students with a variety of undergraduate majors, including political science, history, english, economics, sociology, business, and philosophy to name a few. We seek students with a diverse professional background including professionals from the non-profit, corporate and government sectors or exemplary academic record.

While the admission committee seeks to admit a wide range of individuals, it is imperative to admit only those highly qualified students capable of the academic rigor necessary to be successful in the program and capable of contributing in the classroom. The GRE is used to indicate the capability of the student. Scores in the 60th percentile or higher are preferred, as well as a GPA of 3.0 or above.

The admission committee reviews the entirety of the applicants materials and places significant importance on the personal statement and letters of recommendation. The personal statement should be concise, well articulated and reveal the applicants desire for furthering their education specifically to public policy. The applicant  should also use this platform to identify a course of action after completion of the degree program and the contribution the applicant hopes to make to the community. Letters of recommendation should be written by individuals that know the applicant well, either in an academic or professional setting. Recommenders should speak the applicants capabilities for rigorous coursework, collaborative decision making and articulate and insightful communication.

The admission committee carefully considers an applicants combined academic and professional background when determining admission. No part of the application is unimportant and applications will not be considered if any portion of the application is incomplete. At this time, personal interviews are not required for admission into the Masters of Public Policy program.

While previous quantitative training is not required, the program's core curriculum is rigorous in nature and completion of prior course work in pre-calculus or calculus, microeconomics, and statistics is strongly recommended. Writing and analytical skills will be evaluated by the admissions committee as are both vital to success in studying policy analysis at the graduate level. Students will receive training and instruction in computer applications for statistics in the quantitative series, which are a core requirement of the degree program.

Those students admitted to the program whose academic record or GRE scores evidence a weak quantitative background, may be required by the admissions committee as a condition of admission to take course work in pre-calculus, microeconomics, and/or statistics as condition of admission and earn a (B) or better in the course.