As a STEM-based program focused on policy analytics, the International Master of Public Administration (I-MPA) places substantial emphasis on data and evidence. Students learn how to work with quantitative information, evaluate policies and programs, interpret statistical results, and communicate findings to policymakers and other nontechnical audiences.
Penn I-MPA students do intensive and exciting coursework in three capacities: as individuals, as members of a Leadership Task Group (LTG), and as collaborators in class-based exercises and projects. Each LTG functions throughout the curriculum as a small-group shared learning community.
In the program, I-MPA students take ten courses (10 c.u.*) in two semesters. Students who remain in good academic standing may be permitted to extend the program by doing a full-semester study extension course in what would be their third consecutive semester on campus. That course builds directly on learnings in one or more of the spring semester courses.
Fall curriculum
The five fall courses are intended to work together and provide a foundation in public management, economics, quantitative analysis, leadership, and evidence-based decision-making.
Over the last two centuries, people in many parts of the world have experienced significant improvements in health, wealth, longevity, and overall well-being. That progress, however, has not been universal, linear, or secure. What conditions support good governance? How has the practice of governance changed over time? What will effective public management require as governments face new technologies, demographic shifts, geopolitical pressures, and other emerging challenges? The course asks students to think about how public managers can operate strategically in complicated environments and how government agencies can work with nonprofit organizations, businesses, communities, and other institutions to solve problems that no single organization can address alone. Classic readings, contemporary cases, and group discussion are used to connect larger questions about governance with the practical challenges faced by public leaders.
This course gives students the economic tools needed to understand the relationship between government and the market. Topics include supply and demand, pricing, price elasticity, and the effects of government intervention and price controls. The course also examines economic efficiency, competition, equity, and market failure as a basis for government action. Students are introduced to cost-benefit analysis and learn how it can be used to compare public investments and policy choices. Other topics include public goods and economic development. Examples are drawn from different policy and institutional settings so that students can apply economic reasoning to public problems in the United States and abroad.
Quantitative analysis has become a basic part of public administration and policymaking. Even public managers who do not conduct statistical analysis themselves are increasingly expected to understand data, evaluate evidence, and make sense of quantitative work produced by analysts, researchers, government agencies, and outside organizations. This course introduces students to the logic of social-scientific inquiry and to the basic statistical methods used in public policy research. The emphasis is on giving students enough statistical knowledge to read quantitative work critically and to begin conducting their own analysis. The problems examined in the course may come from education, health, social policy, economic development, local government, or other areas of public policy. For example, students might ask whether an education program improves student outcomes, whether a public-health intervention is reaching its intended population, or whether a new government service is producing measurable results. The course provides an important foundation for the spring course in program evaluation and data analysis and for later work involving data, evidence, and AI-assisted analytical tools.
How do leaders emerge? Why do some leaders get quickly elevated to top positions while others lag or languish? What variables matter most to why some leaders prove effective where other leaders fail? There is a large and ever-growing body of empirical research literature, as well as a huge number of quasi-academic and popular books, that purport to address these and related questions. While certain lessons about leadership-relevant individual traits, skills, and signature strengths apply across all sectors, other lessons are more sector-sensitive or sector-specific. In particular, the kinds of leadership tactics and strategies that tend to be relatively efficacious in government or public organizations differ in important ways from those that generally seem to work best in nonprofit organizations and are often radically different from those associated with business organization. This is especially true with respect to strategic innovation and management. This course offers students a framework for understanding leadership theory and practice across all three sectors.
I-MPA students may take up to two elective courses from across the University, providing an opportunity to tailor their academic experience to their individual interests and career objectives. Electives should be selected strategically to enhance the skills, knowledge, and experience most relevant to each student’s academic and professional goals. Students may choose from courses throughout the University, including offerings in the School of Arts and Sciences, the Wharton School, and the Carey Law School. All outside electives must be approved by the student’s academic advisor to ensure that they are appropriate for the student’s academic program and support their broader educational and professional objectives. (Please note: Successful registration for courses from other disciplines and schools depends on the availability of the course and the approval of its department. For details about courses, please visit the Penn Course Catalog.)
Spring curriculum
The spring semester builds on the analytical and managerial foundation of the fall. The emphasis shifts toward program evaluation, data analysis, finance, ethics, and the application of what students have learned to real public problems.
How do we know whether a public program is working? How can policymakers compare different programs or interventions? And how should analysts present quantitative findings so that decision-makers can understand and use them? This course introduces students to the tools used to evaluate public policies and programs. It combines evaluation design with applied data analysis and places particular emphasis on communicating results clearly to nontechnical audiences. By the end of the course, students should be able to design quantitative and qualitative program evaluations, analyze program data using R, interpret results and their limitations, and present findings clearly to policymakers, managers, and other audiences. The course will also introduce appropriate uses of AI-assisted analytical tools. The emphasis will be on using these tools carefully, validating their output, and understanding where human oversight remains necessary.
Public leaders often have to make decisions among competing priorities and with limited resources. Which goals should receive the most attention? How should leaders weigh competing interests? Under what circumstances, if any, can pursuing one important objective justify significant costs in another area? This course examines the relationship between effective leadership and ethical leadership. Students consider different approaches to morality, responsibility, and public interest and explore how those ideas can guide difficult decisions. Readings and case studies draw on a range of philosophical, cultural, and religious traditions. The course also considers more contemporary ethical issues associated with data and artificial intelligence, including transparency, bias, privacy, accountability, and the proper role of human judgment in public decision-making.
Government budgets are expressions of public policy and carry the authority of law. Nonprofit budgets reflect an organization's mission and provide a financial plan for meeting obligations to donors, funders, beneficiaries, and other stakeholders. The legal and professional rules governing public and nonprofit finance vary across countries and institutions, but managers in both sectors need to understand budgets, accounting systems, financial reporting, and the financial consequences of organizational decisions. This course is designed for students with little or no previous background in financial reporting, budgeting, or financial management. It introduces the major financial-management issues facing senior leaders in government and nonprofit organizations. Students learn how to read financial information, understand budgets and financial statements, assess organizational financial performance, and use financial evidence in management decisions. The course may also consider the increasing use of data analytics and AI tools in budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting.
Each I-MPA degree candidate must take one capstone course in the spring semester. Each capstone course is focused on a particular global leadership and problem-solving topic, involves intensive supervised student research and writing, and requires students to utilize and apply the STEM policy analytics and other learnings acquired in the program. Possible capstone topics include climate change; eldercare; at-risk youth; labor migration; public health; and others. Capstone work focuses on real-world problems and is intended to produce professional-quality research, analysis, and presentations that students can include in their professional portfolios. Each student will have an opportunity to choose from among two or more capstone courses. Capstone course options for the spring semester will be posted during fall break in October. The capstone course selection process will be conducted in November. Final capstone course registrations will be completed in December.
I-MPA students may take up to two elective courses from across the University, providing an opportunity to tailor their academic experience to their individual interests and career objectives. Electives should be selected strategically to enhance the skills, knowledge, and experience most relevant to each student’s academic and professional goals. Students may choose from courses throughout the University, including offerings in the School of Arts and Sciences, the Wharton School, and the Carey Law School. All outside electives must be approved by the student’s academic advisor to ensure that they are appropriate for the student’s academic program and support their broader educational and professional objectives. (Please note: Successful registration for courses from other disciplines and schools depends on the availability of the course and the approval of its department. For details about courses, please visit the Penn Course Catalog.)
