Home > News & Events
SIPA and the University of Tokyo Prepare Dual Degree
SIPA is working with the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Public Policy to launch a dual degree program for students interested in combining an education at two of the world's leading policy schools.
The Graduate School of Public Policy, established in 2004, recently introduced a Master of Public Policy, International Program, degree that offers law, politics, and economics courses in English.
Students in the dual degree program would spend a year at each school, earning a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Tokyo and a Master of International Affairs or a Master of Public Administration from Columbia University. Most students would start the program in Tokyo and finish in New York.
SIPA Dean John Coatsworth said that the dual degree program will deepen SIPA's connections to East Asia.
"It partners us with the most important and highest quality school of public policy in Japan," Coatsworth said. "We can be sure that students who participate in this program get the best that Japan has to offer."
Professor Takatoshi Ito of the University of Tokyo said Japanese students have high expectations for this program. He noted that SIPA provides a unique opportunity to take a wide variety of courses, from environmental subjects to United Nations studies.
"Just providing this scope is tremendous for our students," Ito said.
The proposed dual degree is expected to be approved by the New York State Education Department by 2011. It would add another program to SIPA's growing list of dual degree partnerships with international policy schools, which include Fundação Getulio Vargas in São Paulo, Sciences Po in Paris, the London School of Economics and Political Science, the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, and the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin.
Tim Shenk, 11/22/2010