SIPA: School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University

The MIA & MPA Curriculum at a Glance

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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; Regions (Africa, East Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, Russia and Eurasia, Southern Asia, and the United States).
• Capstone workshops, which are mandatory for MPA and MIA students who enter SIPA in the fall 2010 semester onwards, engage small teams of students with cutting-edge issues facing real-world clients that have included in recent years: New York City 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.