Community Economic Development Policy (M.A.)

The 2008-2009 Advanced Degree Programs Brochure  (PDF 320 kb) is now available for download.

The Advanced Practioner Programs include Research, Policy & Management components in interdisciplinary Master of Arts and PhD Programs. The MA in CED Policy is an Advanced Practitioner Professional Program designed to address the needs of senior professionals for a policy focus and a shorter program of study than offered by the more academic PhD Program. The emphasis is on analytical skills for policy makers & senior managers. MA advanced core courses are in the PhD Program and other applied policy-oriented courses are in the National or the International MS programs. A supervised paper acts as a thesis. Applicants to the MA in Policy Program need a bachelors from an accredited institution, preferably in a relevant field, defined policy interests, and a minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible policy experience in CED; ten years of total experience in the field is highly desirable.

Candidates for the MA must complete 36 credits of coursework that includes required doctoral-level courses and a planned combination of policy-oriented courses offered by the graduate programs. Coursework may be completed over 20 months in an extended weekend format. A residential format allows an accelerated pace, and involvement in planning or research projects at the School. Depending on the courses taken each semester, students will follow either the Masters weekend schedule (four 3-day meetings per semester) or the doctoral schedule (five 5-day meetings each semester).

An MApolicy/MBA joint program is available. PhD courses taken as part of the MA may be applied towards the PhD degree if a student applies and is subsequently admitted to the PhD Program. The MA, joint MBA, and PhD programs are separate programs with different requirements, and separate applications.