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The MIA & MPA Curriculum at a Glance
Total Credits: Minimum of 54 Credits
Minimum of 54 points, 3.0 GPA and 4 full-time residency units
The MIA and MPA programs are both structured around four complementary components: core curriculum, policy concentration and specialized skills or advanced knowledge:
- The core curriculum provides students with the knowledge and skills that any fast-track policy expert or manager is expected to bring to the table, whether in the public, private or non-profit sector. These core competencies include economic and political analysis, quantitative techniques and critical management skills.
- Policy concentrations equip students with substantive knowledge about major global public policy issues. Students choose a concentration from the following six options: Economic and Political Development, Energy and Environment, Human Rights, International Finance and Economic Policy, International Security and Urban and Social Policy.
- Specializations provide high-level skills and specialized knowledge that enable graduates to apply their policy knowledge effectively in a wide range of professional settings. Students choose the specialization from among the following six: Advanced Policy and Economic Analysis; Applied Science; Management; International Media, Advocacy and Communications; International Organization; in addition to a regional specialization (Africa, East Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, Russia and Eurasia, South Asia and the United States).
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Capstone workshops are required for all MIA students who entered SIPA starting in the fall 2010 semester, and all MPA students. Capstone workshops engage small teams of students with cutting-edge issues facing real-world clients that have included in recent years: New York City's Mayor’s Office, International Rescue Committee, J.P. Morgan, United Nations Development Program, World Bank and numerous service-oriented NGOs with operations around the world.
| Core Requirements | ||
| MIA | Point requirements | MPA | Point requirements | |
| Politics | Conceptual Foundations of International Affairs and one course from a menu of courses on Interstate Relations | Politics of Policymaking I and Politics of Policymaking II |
| Economics (select one sequence, corresponding to your concentration below) | ||
| Statistics | ||
| Management (choose one) | ||
| Financial Management (choose one) |
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| Internship | ||
| Professional Development | ||
| Capstone Workshop | ||
| Foreign Language Proficiency | Required | Not required |
| Policy Concentration Options All students choose one concentration: a policy field in which they wish to focus their studies at SIPA. |
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| Specialization Options All students also choose one specialization: a skill or area of specialized knowledge to pair with their concentration. |
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Advanced Policy And Economic Analysis (APEA) |
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| CU Dual Degree Options | ||
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| International Dual Degree Options | ||
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