About Us

About Us

Our Mission

The University of Connecticut’s School of Public Policy (SPP) is dedicated to solving pressing societal problems through cutting-edge scholarship, high quality instruction, and relevant service to the profession and society. We are committed to preparing diverse leaders employed in a wide range of professions and prepared with the important skills and competencies to be highly successful in their chosen careers.

Our mission is to be the institution of choice for individuals seeking the education they need to excel as public service leaders. Through high-quality instruction and professional development we provide the skills necessary to meet the challenges and leverage the opportunities that arise in an increasingly diverse, complex, and interdependent society. Our graduates are prepared to advance the practice of public administration and public policy, to solve problems, improve our communities and make society more just and equitable.

The mission of UConn’s Master of Public Policy (MPP) program is to provide future and current public service professionals with the contextual knowledge and the analytic, communication, and ethical skills necessary to lead, manage, and conduct policy development, analysis, and evaluation in an increasingly diverse, complex, and interconnected society. Our program emphasizes rigorous critical thinking and analytic methods for developing, assessing, and continuously evaluating alternative policies and programs. Our graduates have the training necessary to address important public problems in order to make the solutions more efficient, effective and our society more just and equitable.

Our Values

We value diverse experiences and perspectives based on the principles of fairness, equity and inclusion with respect for community, integrity, civility, courage, and kindness. We aspire for our research, teaching, and service to be relevant, responsive, inclusive, impactful, evidence-based, and of the highest quality.

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Vision

The vision of our MPA program is to develop the best public leaders in the world.

Mission

Our mission is to be the institution of choice for prospective students seeking the education they need to excel as public service leaders in the public, nonprofit, and private sectors. We help students reach their academic and professional goals by providing them with exceptional applied instruction that allows them to compete successfully for top jobs, and fully prepares them to meet the challenges they will face in an increasingly complex, demanding, interdependent world. Students emerge from our program ready and able to employ the theories, methods, and practices of public administration and public policy to solve problems and make our communities and society better.

Values

Premier teaching. We are explicitly committed to maintaining the highest standards of instruction. The courses we provide are engaging, relevant, and thorough and are designed to provide the skills necessary for becoming leaders in the public service. Likewise, we emphasize helping students develop rigorous analytic skills that they can apply to solve a wide array of research, management, and policy problems.

Rigorous scholarship. We investigate important problems facing society from an array of policy analytic perspectives and using a wide variety of methodologies. We produce respected research that enhances knowledge and informs policy and practice. Our program explicitly draws together theoretical insight, analytic skills, and field practice.

Ethical, energetic service. We are committed to preparing students by education, outlook, and commitment for public service. Our faculty, staff, and students are actively engaged members of the public policy, nonprofit, and public management communities. We are attentive and responsive to the needs of our university, state, nation, and the world. Through our example and curriculum, we work to instill in our students a strong commitment to the ethical practice of public service. In our program, students learn the responsibilities of accountability and responsiveness that accrue to public servants in a democracy, how to evaluate the implications of administrative decisions, and how to promulgate governance that prizes fairness and respect.

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12th
National ranking of public finance and budget programs, U.S. News & World Report

44th
National ranking of public affairs programs, U.S. News & World Report

24th
National ranking of nonprofit programs, U.S. News & World Report

Our Priorities

Two graduate students in the Department of Public Policy work on group projects at the Hartford campus.

The School of Public Policy offers degree, certificate, and professional development programs that span the fields of public policy, public administration, nonprofit management, and survey research. Located at the UConn Hartford campus, our nationally-recognized programs offer students flexibility and provide them with opportunities to gain real-world experience that will help them thrive in the job market. Our academic community is large enough to attract high-caliber students from around the world and yet small enough to provide a comfortable atmosphere for personal growth and accomplishment.

Students in our Master of Public Policy and Master of Public Administration programs learn from professors who are top educators and researchers in their fields. These students also put their classroom knowledge into practice through paid internships with top state agencies, city governments, and nonprofits in Connecticut. Our online graduate education in nonprofit management and survey research touches all points of the globe. Our faculty provide one-on-one guidance and are committed to each student’s advancement.

 
View our Academic Programs

Thomas Craemer, a professor in the Department of Public Policy, poses in the hallway of the UConn Hartford campus.

Our faculty are nationally and internationally-renowned researchers devoted to developing the next generation of public, nonprofit, and private sector leaders. SPP professors are experts in policy analysis and program evaluation research, and have established research programs in education policy; state and local fiscal policy; social policy; family policy; diversity policy; and the demand for public services. Faculty members bring this expertise into the classroom through cases, examples, and projects.

 
Learn More about our Research Areas

Three graduate students have a discussion in the public policy main office.

UConn SPP students have an immersive academic experience thanks to our School’s engagement with Connecticut’s communities, state agencies, municipalities, and nonprofits. Our Public Service Executive Leadership Collaborative brings Connecticut government and nonprofit leaders together with our students to discuss the core issues of public policy and practice. Our nationally-awarded Encore Connecticut program transitions corporate professionals to employment in the nonprofit world.

Our alumni are leaders of public, nonprofit, and corporate organizations across Connecticut, the U.S., and the world. They also engage with our students through our one-on-one mentoring program. Our Internship and Professional Practice Program inserts our graduate students into the state’s top government and nonprofit agencies in impactful paid internships which include a full year’s scholarship. Our Graduate Association in Public Policy in membership with the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) hosts current issue seminars and volunteer engagement through the Metro-Hartford.

 
View our Upcoming Events and Programs

Our Program Outcomes

Master of Public Administration (MPA), Academic Years 2018 – 2022

Entering Year  Degree Completions Median Time to Degree Graduated Within % Graduated in 2 Years or Less
1 Year 2 Years 3 Years 4 Years 5 Years 6 Years
2018 47 1.7 9 37 45 46 47 47 73%
2019 55 1.7 12 47 54 54 55 – – 69%
2020 54 1.7 9 48 53 54 – – – – 67%
2021 61 1.6 26 56 61 – – – – – – 73%
2022 50 1.6 15 50 – – – – – – – – 86%

Master of Public Policy (MPP), Academic Years 2018 – 2022

Entering Year  Degree Completions Median Time to Degree Graduated Within % Graduated in 2 Years or Less
1 Year 2 Years 3 Years 4 Years 5 Years 6 Years
2018 13 1.7 5 11 11 12 12 – – 65%
2019 15 1.7 5 13 15 15 – – – – 87%
2020 18 1.6 8 16 18 – – – – – – 67%
2021 20 1.6 6 17 – – – – – – – – 81%
2022 16 1.6 5 5 – – – – – – – – 31%

Alumni of the UConn School of Public Policy hold a wide variety of positions at all organizational levels such as budget analysts, bond ratings analysts, human resource managers, program administrators, policy analysts, program evaluators, and other roles across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

Master of Public Administration (MPA), 2022-2024 Graduates

Employment Sectors 2022 2023 2024
National or Central government in the same country as the program 0% 2% 4%
State, provincial or regional government in the same country as the program 33% 37% 35%
City, County, or other local government in the same country as the program 15% 21% 12%
Government (all levels) or international quasi-governmental 0% 0% 0%
Nonprofit domestic-oriented 23% 23% 16%
Nonprofit/NGOs internationally-oriented 0% 0% 2%
Private sector-Research/consulting 0% 0% 0%
Private sector but not research/consulting 16% 12% 10%
Obtaining further education 3% 0% 4%
Military Service 0% 0% 0%
Unemployed (not seeking employment) 2% 0% 0%
Unemployed (seeking employment) 0% 2% 8%
Status Unknown 8% 2% 10%

 

Master of Public Public Policy (MPP), 2022-2024 Graduates

Employment Sectors 2022 2023 2024
National or Central government in the same country as the program 0% 16% 7%
State, provincial or regional government in the same country as the program 16% 42% 41%
City, County, or other local government in the same country as the program 11% 5% 7%
Government (all levels) or international quasi-governmental 0% 0% 0%
Nonprofit domestic-oriented 32% 5% 22%
Nonprofit/NGOs internationally-oriented 0% 0% 0%
Private sector-Research/consulting 0% 11% 7%
Private sector but not research/consulting 21% 5% 7%
Obtaining further education 16% 11% 0%
Military Service 0% 0% 0%
Unemployed (not seeking employment) 0% 0% 0%
Unemployed (seeing employment) 0% 5% 4%
Status Unknown 5% 0% 4%