The Goldman School of Public Policy (GSPP) is one of the nation's premier graduate institutions for education and research on the most pressing contemporary policy problems in American society and throughout the world. GSPP is an eclectic community of students, faculty, staff, and visitors; all committed to the highest standards of policy analysis, intellectual rigor, and energetic policy debate.
GSPP was one of the first institutions in the United States established for the analysis and development of public policy. For almost four decades, it has been a leader in the teaching of methods of policy analysis using microeconomic, statistical, political, management, legal, and information technology skills to help solve real-world problems.
The Goldman School is consciously multidisciplinary in its outlook and orientation. Its faculty is drawn from economics, political science, law, social psychology, demography, architecture, physics, and engineering. In addition, students can study with leading scholars in a variety of other disciplines and fields throughout the Berkeley campus.
Great emphasis is placed on team projects, on sharpening oral and written communication skills, and on creative thinking. Students have opportunities to work on policy problems for real clients and also to address scholarly and methodological issues in depth. The result is an exceptional learning experience, both inside and outside the classroom.
Graduates have risen to leadership positions as policymakers, analysts, and managers at all levels of government; in the nonprofit sector, private institutions, and in international organizations.
The undergraduate courses in public policy deal with the substance of public policy, how it is made, how its effects can be gauged, and what the purposes of policy should be. The courses consider both the policy process and particular policy issues. By examining different policy problems in their political and social contexts, students gain a greater sensitivity to the forces which shape and carry out public policies and to the impact of social, political, economic, and legal power.
Courses are designed for students in diverse disciplines and professional schools. There are no prerequisites for enrollment in the undergraduate courses unless specifically noted otherwise in the course descriptions. The training provided by the courses is useful to those interested in combining the substantive perspectives of the social sciences with the immediacy of contemporary problems; to those considering professional study; and to the informed and politically aware citizen.
Through an examination of domestic and international policy areas, graduate courses enable students to conduct systematic work in the design and assessment of public policies. Among the skills emphasized are those facilitating the application of political, organizational, economic, quantitative, and legal analysis to the full range of the policy process — from policy initiation through policy adoption, implementation, and evaluation. By developing these skills, students should find that their strengthened analytical capabilities are of direct use when applied to their own field of concentration.
Public Policy: MPP (Master of Public Policy), PhD
Public Affairs: MPA (Master of Public Affairs)
