As a complement to your MPP core curriculum, you will also focus on a Policy Area of Concentration (PAC) or a Concentration.
Typically you declare your policy area in the fall of your final year at Harvard Kennedy School. But if you decide to concentrate in International and Global Affairs, you will need to declare earlier so you can take certain required courses during your first year and meet more extensive requirements overall.
The five MPP PACs/Concentrations include:
Business and Government Policy (BGP)
The 12-credit BGP curriculum examines:
- The organizational relationship between business and government, and how they seek to influence one another
- How governmental policies influence the decisions of firms and industries (and vice versa)
- Economic issues in an increasingly integrated global economy
Democracy, Politics and Institutions (DPI)
The 12-credit DPI curriculum focuses on the conduct and institutions of politics as well as governance in the United States and elsewhere. Courses cover topics such as:
- The workings of the presidency and Congress
- The role of the media
- The nature of political life in different regions of the world
- Political, historical, and normative analysis of policy issues
International and Global Affairs (IGA)
The IGA concentration's 24-credit curriculum provides intensive training for careers that address international and global challenges and governance in areas including:
- Human rights
- Security
- Environment, health, and resources
- Trade and finance
- Science and technology
Political and Economic Development (DEV)
The 12-credit DEV curriculum focuses on the economic, political, and social issues surrounding the design and implementation of policies for development, examining issues such as:
- Empowering the economically disadvantaged
- Improving social service delivery and state capacity
- Designing economic growth strategies that promote structural transformation
- Unlocking entrepreneurial potential for growth
- Implementing sustainable solutions to poverty
Social and Urban Policy (SUP)
The SUP concentration's 16-credit curriculum draws together policy domains that focus on promoting a sustainable world and improving well-being for all members of society—especially for vulnerable children, elderly, and adults. Cities concentrate opportunities for prosperity as well as challenges of sustainability and social inclusion. This is why SUP focuses particularly on policy making and governance in urban areas. SUP’s policy domains include:
- Health
- Education
- Labor
- Poverty
- Crime
- Housing
- Urban land-use planning
- Urban economic development