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Public Health and Public Policy

A dual degree that includes a Master of Public Health (MPH) offered through the School of Medicine and Public Health and a La Follette School Master of Public Affairs (MPA) degree.


An education in public health policy, policy analysis, and management provides skills to address critical health and health policy issues in the United States and throughout the world.

Most La Follette School students finish the dual degree requirements in 3 full years, including summers. Students cannot receive a Master of International Public Affairs (MIPA) degree from this program.

Applying

Separate applications to both the La Follette School of Public Affairs and the Master of Public Health Program are required. Applicants can apply to both programs at the time of application, or they can apply to one program while enrolled in the other after they have matriculated.

To maximize time spent in both programs, it is recommended that matriculated students be admitted to both programs in their first year on campus.

Requirements

Enrolled students must meet the degree requirements and progression expectations of both programs and are encouraged to seek academic advising from each program every semester.

They will receive 19 credits from 6 core courses worth 3 credits each, in addition to a 1 credit professional development seminar for public affairs.

The remaining credit requirements for the La Follette degree are met with elective courses and 11 credits that count toward the MPA/MIPA can count toward the MPH degree.

The La Follette School curriculum requires 30 credits. A total of 42 credits is required for the Master of Public Health (MPH) curriculum.

Students in the program are expected to complete the majority of core requirements by the end of their second year of studies, so they can focus primarily on electives in their third year.

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Core Courses (19 cr.)

  • PA 800 Professional Development Workshop focuses on essential skills students must have to be successful in graduate school and in their careers
  • Introduction to Statistical Methods for Public Policy Analysis develops competence with analytical tools for studying public affairs.
  • Microeconomic Policy Analysis explores how to evaluate the implications of policies for efficiency and equity, and to employ statistical methods for interpreting and presenting quantitative data.
  • Introduction to Policy Analysis focuses on defining policy problems, determining goals, designing policy alternatives, and assessing trade-offs to make recommendations.
  • Policymaking Process examines the political processes that shape U.S. public policy.
    Introduction to Public Management introduces key theories of how public organizations work, the relationship between democracy and management, and critical public management issues such as accountability and policy implementation.
  • Workshop in Public Affairs, the capstone course taken in the final semester, gives students experience working in teams with a faculty supervisor on a real-world policy project. They apply conceptual and analytical tools to issues their clients face in the public, nonprofit, and private sectors.

Elective Courses (11 cr.)

Recommended Public Affairs courses:

Note: Electives cannot come from the MPH curriculum.

Degree plan

A recommended schedule of courses to complete the degrees.

Masters of Public Affairs – Public Health and Public Policy degree plan

Careers

Courses prepare health policy professionals as policy analysts and public managers in the increasingly important area of health care.

Cost

Students in the Public Health and Public Affairs dual degree program pay different tution rates. See the Graduate tuition rate, which is paid as a La Follette School student, and the Health Professionals rate, paid as a Public Health student, under the “Student Career” dropdown menu.

Contact

Master of Public Health advising


Mindy Schreiner

schreiner3@wisc.edu

La Follette School graduate advising


Mo O’Connor

mcoconnor@lafollette.wisc.edu

Careers

Courses prepares health policy professionals as policy analysts and public managers in the increasingly important area of health care.

Requirements


Enrolled students must meet the degree requirements and progression expectations of both programs and are encouraged to seek academic advising from each program every semester.

They will receive 19 credits from 6 core courses worth 3 credits each, in addition to a 1 credit professional development seminar for public affairs.

The remaining credit requirements for the La Follette degree are met with elective courses and 11 credits that count toward the MPA/MIPA can count toward the MPH degree. 

The La Follette School curriculum requires 30 credits. A total of 42 credits is required for the Master of Public Health (MPH) curriculum. Students in the program are expected to complete the majority of core requirements by the end of their second year of studies, so they can focus primarily on electives in their third year.

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Requirement details

Core Courses (19 cr.)

  • Professional Development Workshop focuses on essential skills students must have to be successful in graduate school and in their careers
  • Introduction to Statistical Methods for Public Policy Analysis develops competence with analytical tools for studying public affairs.
  • Microeconomic Policy Analysis explores how to evaluate the implications of policies for efficiency and equity, and to employ statistical methods for interpreting and presenting quantitative data.
  • Introduction to Policy Analysis focuses on defining policy problems, determining goals, designing policy alternatives, and assessing trade-offs to make recommendations.
  • Policymaking Process examines the political processes that shape U.S. public policy.
  • Introduction to Public Management introduces key theories of how public organizations work, the relationship between democracy and management, and critical public management issues such as accountability and policy implementation.
  • Workshop in Public Affairs, the capstone course taken in the final semester, gives students experience working in teams with a faculty supervisor on a real-world policy project. They apply conceptual and analytical tools to issues their clients face in the public, nonprofit, and private sectors.

Elective Courses (11 cr.) 

Administrative Internship, Program Evaluation, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Health Systems and Policy, Economics of Healthcare

  • Note: Electives cannot come from the MPH curriculum.

Degree plan


A recommended schedule of courses in order to complete the degree.

Masters of Public Affairs – Public Health and Public Policy degree plan

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MPA Course Prerequisites

Students must take the following introductory prerequisite courses by the time they begin the MPA program:

  • A microeconomics course
  • A statistics course
  • An American government course

MPH Course Prerequisites

  • One semester of college-level mathematics such as algebra (equivalent to UW-Madison, MATH 112) or statistics (STATS 201)
  • One semester of science from the areas of biology, chemistry, or physics