Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (formerly the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school provides an array of comprehensive coursework in the fields of international development, foreign policy, science and technology, and economics and finance through its undergraduate (AB) degrees, graduate Master of Public Affairs (MPA), Master of Public Policy (MPP), and PhD degrees.
Type
1930
85 full-time faculty members and approximately 45 visiting professors, lecturers, and practitioners
Approximately 300 undergraduate students and approximately 190 graduate students
The school is consistently ranked as one of the best institutions for the study of international relations and public affairs in the country and world.[1] Foreign Policy ranks the Princeton School as second in the world for international relations at the undergraduate level (behind Harvard University), fourth at the masters level (behind the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University, and Johns Hopkins University), and second at the doctoral level (behind Harvard University).[2]
Academics[edit]
Undergraduate program[edit]
The school stresses a multidisciplinary approach to policy studies with undergraduate students at the Princeton School taking courses in at least four disciplines including economics, history, politics, psychology, sociology, and science policy. [15] In their junior year, students must enroll in and complete a Policy Task Force, which addresses a specific public policy issue. Students conduct research, propose recommendations, and issue final reports.[16] Students are also allowed to work towards certificates in an array of fields, including Global Health and Health Policy, Urban Studies, and the History and the Practice of Diplomacy.
Master's degrees[edit]
The two-year MPA program prepares students for international and domestic policy careers. All second-year MPA students must complete a Policy Workshop, which emphasizes policy implementation. Through the graduate policy workshops, students conduct field-based research and present their research and recommendations to clients. Students also develop analytical and quantitative skills through coursework emphasizing the political, economic, and behavioral aspects of complex policy issues. MPA candidates may select one of four fields of concentration:
The Princeton School has 19 unique centers and programs:[33]
PolicyNet is a network of prominent public policy schools around the world, founded in 2005 as a joint venture between the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the Centre for International Governance Innovation for interaction and collaboration on issues of common interest, curricular programs, joint research projects and other activities.
The school is a full member of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA), a group of schools of public policy, public administration, and international studies.
Faculty[edit]
Nearly all full-time Princeton School faculty members have dual appointments with other departments at the university. The school also has visiting professors, lecturers, and practitioners from the world of public and international affairs that teach. Faculty members at the school include Nobel Laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, a university president,[40] and former ambassadors.[41] Nobel Laureates include Angus Deaton, Daniel Kahneman, Paul Krugman, and Arthur Lewis.
Controversy[edit]
In July 2002, dissenting family members of the Robertson Foundation board, which was established initially by a $35 million gift in 1961, filed suit seeking to more narrowly focus the SPIA curriculum on training for careers in government and public service vs. Princeton's broader conception of "public affairs" which "embraces some non-government activities, for example, certain types of work in journalism, in private foundations, and in business, labor and consumer organizations."[42] A settlement was reached in 2008.[43]