Dean Caroline Freund and GPS faculty members explain its goals, its methods and the variety of disciplines it draws from
“Public policy” is a phrase you might hear often, but it isn’t necessarily one that is easy to define.
If you’re considering pursuing a Master of Public Policy degree, or MPP, you might already have an idea of what would be considered public policy: perhaps the development of a public transit network in a city, efforts to monitor water pollution levels to assess contamination and guide cleanup efforts, or designing policies for income redistribution to improve the livelihoods of vulnerable populations.
What do all of these have in common? They’re projects that seek to improve everyone’s lives, whether that’s getting people around town more quickly, keeping them safe from harmful chemicals or providing temporary support so people can become more prosperous and avoid hardship.
Put another way, “public policy encompasses the economic and political mechanisms through which rules and regulations affect our well-being,” said Craig McIntosh, a professor of economics at UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS), who studies ways to support agriculture and ease poverty in developing countries.
Because this effort is collective and aimed at people’s well-being, public policy is deeply tied to governments and political systems, since, at their roots, they exist to make sure that people’s needs are being met, even if there is often disagreement about just how to achieve that.
Other examples of policymaking include designing policies to support critical industrial sectors or managing the public debt, as well as work that addresses issues on a more local level, like allocating resources and shelter to homeless people and providing early childhood education.
One of the common threads throughout all of this type work is how it draws on economics and political science.
“Public policy is inherently interdisciplinary,” said Caroline Freund, the dean of GPS. “You need economics to know what you can do cost-effectively, how a policy will create incentives and what will happen. But you also need political scientists to know what’s actually politically feasible to do.”
Career prospects are bright
These types of issues are undoubtedly important and help make society better. But in 2025, there’s a big elephant in the room: Public sector jobs, particularly at the federal level in the U.S., are not as bountiful as they once were. However, that’s only part of the story.
“While current job prospects may seem dim, the combination of deep staffing cuts and widespread retirements means that when demand inevitably returns, there will be real opportunities for those with the training and insight to step in and lead,” said Joshua Graff Zivin, who holds the Pacific Economic Cooperation Chair in International Economic Relations at GPS.
“Public policy encompasses the economic and political mechanisms through which rules and regulations affect our well-being.”
Craig McIntosh, Professor of Economics
And beyond the federal workforce, there are still plenty of jobs to be had at the local and state level, where many GPS graduates work on solving problems that directly affect their communities.
There are also a myriad of opportunities outside of the U.S. that an MPP opens the door to, as the degree is recognized and valued in many other countries.
And crucially, graduates with an MPP degree are increasingly in demand in the private sector, too. Companies of all sizes rely on people in their organizations who understand public policy, as it’s crucial for them to understand laws and regulations, both in their home country and abroad, that affect the way they do business.
In fact, major policy shifts make this type of knowledge more important than ever before: Businesses are scrambling to determine how they will be affected by changes in international trade policy, environmental regulations, tax laws and more.
“An MPP is worth getting because the public sector, whether you’re employed by it or not, shapes the environment in which all organizations — private, nonprofit and otherwise — operate,” Graff Zivin said.
What an MPP from GPS offers
But what sets a GPS Master of Public Policy degree apart from other schools’ programs?
First, it offers a rigorous quantitative focus, more so than other programs. Students at GPS learn to describe problems, yes, but they also learn to analyze the data behind those problems.
“If the goal is to change behavior, the design details matter more than lofty mission statements,” Graff Zivin said.
By grounding their analyses in solid data, students and graduates are empowered to pursue more accurate, evidence-based solutions. To do this, GPS students learn quantitative methods and computer languages like Python to help them organize and interpret information.
Secondly, the School of Global Policy and Strategy prepares students for a career in policy by exposing them to an interdisciplinary curriculum, drawing not just from economics, but also political science, engineering, climate science and business.
Dean Freund said that this well-rounded curriculum isn’t done for its own sake, but because public policy is inherently interdisciplinary. GPS prepares its students for real-world situations where a range of influences can impact a policy.
“For example, reducing carbon emissions requires physical scientists to develop new energy options, economists to design effective incentives and political scientists to ensure that policies are feasible and sustainable,” she said.
Kyle Handley, a professor of economics at GPS and an expert on international trade and tariffs, agreed.
“We’re learning that economic thinking can’t be siloed off separately from these other important disciplines and skills,” he said.
Major policy shifts in recent months have made the skills acquired in the MPP degree more important than ever before — not less.
Finally, unlike other MPP programs that limit their scope to policy in the U.S., GPSers examine issues from an international perspective.
In particular, the school places a teaching and research emphasis on countries like China and India, which are increasingly central players on the global stage. While at GPS, students have the chance to focus on these areas, including through one-of-a-kind research centers like the 21st Century China Center, the 21st Century India Center, the Peter F. Cowhey Center on Global Transformation and the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies.
“In our MPP degree, we’re not just thinking about public policy in the U.S. or in California,” Freund said. “Our school has ‘global’ in its name for a reason.”
