Program overview
Our Joint Ph.D. in Public Policy Program emphasizes the broad field of public policy, concerning the environment of public policy; the processes of policy formation, management, and implementation; and the analysis and evaluation of policy outputs and results.
As a student in the program, you’ll receive rigorous social science training and gain knowledge of government decision-making processes, problem solving capabilities, and an understanding of the substantive aspects of public problems and their effects on citizens and institutions.
Faculty Research and Areas of Expertise
O’Neill’s Policy and Management faculty undertake research across a broad range of areas and IU’s Political Science faculty undertake research across various sub-fields in the discipline, joining to deliver you a Joint Ph.D. in Public Policy Program designed to help you achieve your research and teaching goals.
Degree Requirements
The University Graduate School requires the completion of at least 90 credit hours in advanced study and research beyond the baccalaureate. Students completing a Master of Public Affairs or similar degree are often allowed to transfer up to 30 credit hours of graduate course work if approved by their Progress Review Committees.
Public Policy students are required to complete the following courses:
- Research Design and Methods in Public Affairs (V680) or Introduction to the Study of Politics (Y570)
- Seminar in Public Policy Process (V690) or Public Administration, Law, and Policy: Approaches and Issues (Y565).
- Workshop in Public Policy (V691)
- Seminar in Teaching Public and Environmental Affairs (V621) or Political Science and Professional Development (Y550)
Required course work for research skills includes a basic two-semester quantitative analysis sequence. The two-semester quantitative analysis sequence requirement is generally fulfilled through one of the course sequences listed below:
- Statistics for Research in Public Affairs I and II (V606 and V607, School of Public and Environmental Affairs)
- Political Data Analysis I and POLS-Y 576 Political Data Analysis II (Y575 and Y576, Department of Political Science)
- Statistical Techniques in Sociology I and II (S554 and S650, Department of Sociology)
In addition, students must demonstrate either: (1) advanced proficiency in quantitative/qualitative analysis or specialized research skills by completing two additional courses approved by the student's Progress Review Committee or (2) proficiency in a language appropriate to his/her field of study and approved by the Progress Review Committee.
Fields of Concentration
The School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the Department of Political Science share equally in delivering Public Policy as a required field of concentration. Students in the Public Policy Program select two additional fields of concentration, one from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs and one from the Department of Political Science. These additional fields of concentration include the following:
- Environmental Policy
- Public Management
- Public Finance
- Public Policy Analysis
- American Politics
- Comparative Politics
- International Relations
- Political Philosophy
- Political Theory and Methodology
Placements
Our Joint Ph.D. in Public Policy Program graduates successfully obtain employment in academic and research organizations. Placements include Dartmouth College, George Washington University, Emory University, Florida State University, University of North Carolina, Ohio State University, University of Arizona, Georgia Institute of Technology, Ulsan University (Korea), University of Massachusetts, University of Washington, Northern Illinois University, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the Council on Foreign Relations.