Mppirgradschool

The situation is very much a “perfect storm”. The most accurate job reports I would look at are those immediately post-2008 and even then, there was not the damaging effects of extended social distancing and uncertainty. Classes will be online and international students will have trouble attending in the next few years due to visa restrictions/savings plummeting. I’ll say it again, don’t pay $220,000 (what you will be paying going full sticker plus interests in a best case scenario) for a $50,000 job you would have gotten going to any of the other equally prestigious schools that were generous in their funding. This decision could decide if and when you ever own a home, can start a family etc.

So this is another enormous issue. If schools begin going online for the fall semester, which Boston University already has announced it will, all schools have to follow suit. Can you imagine the lawsuit that any of these institutions are liable to if they knowingly kept classes on campus, when other schools didn’t, and people got sick? Odds are incredibly high that they go the online route. Options for next year are clear, (if you have zero funding/low funding): A ) Pick the school that offers you most money, if you don’t mind Zoom learning B.) Defer until next year and apply for external fellowships

Echoing comments made by other posters, working in public service or currently at these programs, about minimizing debt and really thinking about your future. Full sticker price means you would be paying over $220,000 (after computing interests) in the best case scenario. Given how the economy is heading, international development firms will lack money to fund projects and state/federal/local govt will enact austerity measures. This means that recently minted graduates at any of these policy schools will be entering the workforce with entry level jobs paying salaries that will put you at the poverty level for the cities they are based out of. You will be competing for the same jobs with people at peer schools but with absolutely crushing debt. Follow your head, minimize debt and good luck with everything!

This is a simple choice, head to Jackson. You’ll drastically minimize debt at an excellent program. Paying sticker price at any policy program, especially these days, is insane.

Heading to an MPP that costs north of $160,000 with zero funding is something that I, and everyone in the public sector, would *highly* advise against. This is even more true as we enter a recession, because graduates of all programs, including HKS, will be fighting for entry-level jobs. Head to the school that offers the most $ or reapply another year, when job prospects upon graduation improve.