LBJ Global Policy Studies

[PublicPolicy2010]

I am trying to understand the strength of the Global Policy Studies (MGPS) Program at the LBJ School at University of Texas at Austin. It is fairly new program (started in 2008) with strong emphasis on international policy challenges. Though in terms of ranking and location the LBJ school does not compare with top schools, overall the University of Texas has a lot to offer. The Law School, Business School and other social science programs are well ranked. The cost of education is low.

I wanted to get some feedback regarding what the prospects are for a student enrolling into MGPS this year. Can students from LBJ truly compete with schools like Ford, Maxwell, Columbia when it comes to getting placed in multilateral world organizations?

Can anyone from MGPS or MPAff UT comment?

[spjones]

did you end up enrolling at UT's MGPS program? Please feel free to shed any light on the topic - I am considering it for fall 2012...

[inquisitive87]

An admissions officer just sent me this:

http://www.utexas.edu/lbj/careers/data

Maybe I'm being overly harsh (the figures are for ALL of LBJ), but it really seems like graduating students, on average, stay in Texas and don't make much above $50,000 their first year out. Also, it doesn't look like there's much going on internationally with job placement- something that frightens me in particular given that I want to do ID consulting. USC, by contrast, seems to be a lower-regarded program but advertises much better international employment figures. I would be psyched for someone to refute this and demonstrate that employment prospects for the MGPS graduates sufficiently rock though.

[Helpplease123]

USC, by contrast, seems to be a lower-regarded program

Is it? I'm international so maybe this is a known thing in the US but I always thought USC was the more highly regarded school. The rankings i've seen all put USC way above UT-Austin and i've definitely heard USC discussed over here but never UT-Austin. In what way is it more highly regarded...in terms of academic standards? Ease of acceptance? Professors?

[inquisitive87]

Is it? I'm international so maybe this is a known thing in the US but I always thought USC was the more highly regarded school. The rankings i've seen all put USC way above UT-Austin and i've definitely heard USC discussed over here but never UT-Austin. In what way is it more highly regarded...in terms of academic standards? Ease of acceptance? Professors?

Congrats, by the way, on the Merit scholarship! I didn't mean to knock USC unfairly (in fact, at this point, I'm leaning toward going there); it's just that almost every ranking I've seen that wasn't USNEWS basically had Duke, UT Austin, GPPI, and U Chicago in the solid second tier for their policy programs (after GSPP, SIPA, WWS, and HKS in the first tier) with everyone else just lying around below them. Obviously there's a lot of fluctuation depending on context but that's what I've seen the most of. Interesting to hear that USC's made it further abroad though- at least where you are.

Does anybody know any LBJ recent GSPP graduates who've said anything about how their "newly established" degree has worked out for them?

[Esquared]

Congrats, by the way, on the Merit scholarship! I didn't mean to knock USC unfairly (in fact, at this point, I'm leaning toward going there); it's just that almost every ranking I've seen that wasn't USNEWS basically had Duke, UT Austin, GPPI, and U Chicago in the solid second tier for their policy programs (after GSPP, SIPA, WWS, and HKS in the first tier) with everyone else just lying around below them. Obviously there's a lot of fluctuation depending on context but that's what I've seen the most of. Interesting to hear that USC's made it further abroad though- at least where you are.

Does anybody know any LBJ recent GSPP graduates who've said anything about how their "newly established" degree has worked out for them?

Any way you could post a few links to these rankings? I've been trying to find others because USNEWS seems a little arbitrary.

[Helpplease123]

Congrats, by the way, on the Merit scholarship! I didn't mean to knock USC unfairly (in fact, at this point, I'm leaning toward going there); it's just that almost every ranking I've seen that wasn't USNEWS basically had Duke, UT Austin, GPPI, and U Chicago in the solid second tier for their policy programs (after GSPP, SIPA, WWS, and HKS in the first tier) with everyone else just lying around below them. Obviously there's a lot of fluctuation depending on context but that's what I've seen the most of. Interesting to hear that USC's made it further abroad though- at least where you are.

Does anybody know any LBJ recent GSPP graduates who've said anything about how their "newly established" degree has worked out for them?

Thanks, you too! Sorry, didn't think you were knocking it at all - was just curious because information seems pretty thin on the ground for MPA/MPP programs and I feel like i'm missing the native general knowledge that I have for schools over here but not for ones in the US. In the end i'm just really going with gut feelings about the programs and theres so many aspects about USC that feel right to my goals and interests but it is interesting to know more about the more factual rankings etc.

[lbjane]

I graduated from LBJ MPAff a couple of years ago, so my data is a few years old. The MGPS degree was just coming in to being while I was there, so I can't speak to that too much. The employment data breakdown is different from when I was there. When I was there, it was more or less 40% in Texas, 40% in DC, and the other 20% in other parts of the US or overseas.

I don't remember salary info, but what's on the site now seems reasonably close to what I remember, though I think that maybe the private sector used to be listed a little higher. The fact of the matter with a lot of government jobs though, is that your salary is more or less determined by some equation of work experience and education and that's not going to change much based on your school. The only place where a school name might get you much of a higher salary is in the private sector. There might be a little difference in the non-profit sector based on school name, but not a very big difference.

I can't comment on the MGPS program specifically, but my class sent people to work on international issues at DOS, DOD, DOE, DOT, USAID, CIA, FBI, Deloitte, UNDP, Brookings, and CSIS. There are probably more, but those are the ones that come to mind. LBJ is one of the oldest policy schools and does have a very extensive network in Texas and in DC. There are a lot of LBJ alums working in international issues in DC, but probably fewer and more scattered overseas.

You might consider reaching out to Lana in the career office. Her info's on the LBJ career website. While I was there, she was very, very helpful and she might be able to provide some MGPS specific data about employment and specific info about recent employers. I didn't really feel like I missed out on too much by being out of DC. I did an internship in DC during the summer between my first and second year and lots of employers came to UT to recruit. Lana was great about letting people know when different employers were in town and snagging them to come to LBJ when they visited the university in general or the business school or law school.

FWIW, I really enjoyed my time at LBJ and ended up working overseas for the US government. I got a lot out of the classes and working with my classmates and my professors were mostly great, with 1-2 exceptions. Austin's a fun place to live, and while it would have been nice to be in DC, it was also nice to graduate debt free and not have to worry about debt when considering job options.

[wasistdas]

thanks for the info LBJane. Do you know anything about the dual degree route, specifically with the business school?

My understanding is that it is "easier" to get into once you are going to LBJ. That being said, it is a top 25 program, so "easier" can mean a lot of things.

[spjones]

@LBJane - Thanks for the heads up. I've applied at UT, A&M, Georgia State (International Economics), GWU, SAIS, and UPitt.

Heard back from the LBJ school (MGPS), but I have yet to have confirmation from any of the others.

[lbjane]

I know that many LBJers do dual degree programs. I don't know how many of them apply as dual degree students and how many apply to the second program after starting LBJ or apply to LBJ after starting another program. Even if you don't do a formal dual degree program, there are many classes that are cross listed and many ways to take classes outside of LBJ toward your elective requirement or, under certain circumstances, to count for a core course.

I took a class in the business school and it was a good experience. It was a pain to actually get registered for it, but once I was registered, it was a good class. I wouldn't necessarily count on it being easier to get in to the business school or law school after starting LBJ, because I honestly don't think that they really give any preference to LBJ students. However, if you go to LBJ, it's worth looking in to it if it's something that you're interested in.