Established in 1979, the Curriculum in Public Policy Analysis was one of  the first undergraduate degree programs in public policy, and a charter  member of the national Association for Public Policy Analysis and  Management. It was augmented in 1991 by an interdisciplinary Ph.D.  Curriculum in Public Policy Analysis. In 1995 the two curricula were  combined and began recruiting their own core faculty. In 2001 the  combined curriculum became the present Department of Public Policy.

The department and its predecessor curricula have been guided since  their inception by the distinctive principles that public policy  analysis is a responsibility of educated citizens, and not merely a task  for professionals. Sound policy research is necessarily an  interdisciplinary task, which must be as rigorous as any good social  research. Twelve core faculty members as well as an additional sixteen adjunct faculty offer each student a strong core curriculum,  and opportunities to develop rigorous analytic skills, pursue original  research and develop excellent communication skills.

Currently, the department has close to 200 undergraduate majors pursuing varied fields of public policy study, including health policy, education policy, global policy, environmental policy and social entrepreneurship. The Department also offers a Washington Policy  Semester for undergraduates, and hosts the social entrepreneurship  teaching program of the University’s Entrepreneurship Minor. It has a  vibrant undergraduate Public Policy Majors Union, and sponsors  UNC’s active chapter of The Roosevelt Institution, a national  student-organized network of public policy analysis think-tanks. All  undergraduate seniors can participate in a capstone practicum in which they produce a policy  analysis in real time, on a topic of immediate importance, for a  government or nonprofit organization.

Our department hosts twenty to twenty-five Ph.D.students from around the world. Graduates from our program  have gone on to faculty positions at Washington University, Duke,  Vanderbilt, and George Mason University, the Universities of Delaware,  Missouri (Columbia), Georgia, Brown, Arizona State, Indiana and the National University of  Singapore. Some of our other students hold positions at respected policy research organizations  including the Brookings Institution, the Economic Policy Institute and  the World Bank.

For questions regarding the Undergraduate Program, contact Professor Krista Perreira, Director of Undergraduate Studies.

For questions regarding the Graduate Program, contact Professor Daniel Gitterman, Director of Graduate Studies.