Info for Students
Announcement: Fall 2023 Capstone Projects
The application for the Fall 2023 Capstone Workshop is now closed. If you are required to take a Capstone project in the fall, please contact Saleha Awal ([email protected]).
Deadline to Apply is Monday, May 1st Noon (12:00pm ET)
To find out more information about the Capstone projects, you can access the individual project description, link to the client website, and the faculty bio below. Because the start date of the project is in the fall, we have provided the preliminary terms of reference for each project but will provide a finalized version of the project scope as we approach the fall semester.
Who Should Apply: Fall Capstone Workshops are intended for students graduating at the end of the fall semester who have not fulfilled their Capstone Workshop requirement. Priority will be given to graduating fall students. Once all MIA/MPA/MPA-DP graduating students have been placed on a project, we will have a second application cycle in August for any projects that have space available. Students who would like to take the project as an elective or who are in their first year are asked to wait for the second application to apply*.
For more information, please refer to our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page for students.
*Please note, if you are a first-year student and you take Capstone Workshop this fall, you have satisfied your Capstone requirement. Any student that completes a Capstone Workshop before the final semester is eligible to apply for a future Capstone Workshop but will be applying to the workshop as an elective and therefore will only be placed if space permits.
Capstone Workshop Fall 2023
Information for Capstone Students, MIA, MPA, AND MPA-DP
A core requirement for the Master of International Affairs (MIA), Master of Public Administration (MPA), and Master of Public Affairs in Development Practice (MPA-DP), the Capstone Workshops give students an opportunity to put learning into practice. Serving as a culminating educational experience for the Master of International Affairs and Master of Public Administration degree programs, students in all of the concentrations, except for the Economic and Political Development (EPD) concentration, complete a Capstone Workshop in their final semester. Students are organized into small consulting teams (between 4 to 8 students per team) and assigned a substantive, policy-oriented project with an external client. Clients include public agencies (from the local to national level), international NGOs and multinational organizations, and major firms in the private sector—recent examples include Barclays, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Mercy Corps, Morgan Stanley, New York City Mayor’s Office, United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office, and the World Bank Group. Student teams, working under the supervision of a faculty expert, answer a carefully defined problem posed by the client. Each team produces an actionable report and an oral briefing of their findings at the close of the Capstone that is designed to translate into real change on the ground.
SIPA Capstone Workshops are available to MIA, MPA and MPA-DP students primarily during the spring semester of their final year. A small number of workshops are offered in the fall semester for students who are graduating at the end of the fall term.
Capstone Workshop FAQs for Students Current Projects (Fall 2022) Capstone Directory
Capstone Workshops Requirements by Program
The following degree programs include capstone workshops as part of their curriculum. See the degree program pages for more details.
Master of International Affairs (MIA) »
Master of Public Affairs (MPA) »
Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science Policy (MPA-ESP) »
