Penn MSPP

[hanburger]

Hello there! I'm curious if anyone has attended or is knowledgeable about the MSPP program at Penn's school of social policy and practice. It's not technically an MPP so it isn't ranked by US News, etc., but seems like a comparable curriculum to many MPPs (including quantitative/data analytics heavy MPPs when you look at the Data Analytics track). I'm focused on urban policy and hope to work in policy advocacy so the proximity to the social work school seems like a big plus. Has anyone been through this program or have a sense of how it compares to the usual-suspect MPP programs, especially in terms of rigor for quantitative methods courses? 

Edited September 7, 2020 by hanburger

[GradSchoolGrad]

13 hours ago, hanburger said:

Hello there! I'm curious if anyone has attended or is knowledgeable about the MSPP program at Penn's school of social policy and practice. It's not technically an MPP so it isn't ranked by US News, etc., but seems like a comparable curriculum to many MPPs (including quantitative/data analytics heavy MPPs when you look at the Data Analytics track). I'm focused on urban policy and hope to work in policy advocacy so the proximity to the social work school seems like a big plus. Has anyone been through this program or have a sense of how it compares to the usual-suspect MPP programs, especially in terms of rigor for quantitative methods courses? 

So I will speak to MSPP from someone who has been watching higher ed trends and someone who has an MPP and familiar with the Policy Grad school landscape.
 

Bottom line is that I view Penn MSPP like Stanford MPP, great University, comparatively under established and under developed program as a professional terminal degree.

1. Penn (like many other schools including Harvard) has been expanding their roster of grad programs because bottom line - they make profit.  This has been part of their strategic plan for years. It may sound strange at first because they have a huge endowment, but endowment is not the money they have accessible. Additionally even though the tuition will be similar to that of ungrad, you don’t have the same costs (i.e. student life stuff). They however can attract students because of the Penn brand.

2. I have only seen MSPP come on to the scene very recently, which leads me to suspect it is a relatively new program, so you are going to have new program problems. I have friends who went to their Ed Management Masters and their feedback was that they had decently interesting peers (although wide distribution), but academics ranged from great to half baked, depending on class.

3. What really concerns me for you is that this isn’t part of a Policy school or Institute, which indicates that you are not likely going to have the same level of institutional support that you would get with an MPP program as part of a school. Sounds silly, but that matters. This is especially concerning since Penn has Fels which owns an MPA program, suggesting there was some crazy internal politics behind the scenes for not being at least partnered program with Fels. Having it be tied to School Work and not policy means that you are not being prime positioned for  Social Policy oriented jobs.

The other problem is that there is likely not much of an alumni base for you to draw on for career purposes.

4. I recommend that you pick programs who have better established links to social Policy career and move beyond what looks good on paper.

Some ideas for you.

Carnegie Melon - Heinz school , both data options and more traditional degrees.

Chicago Harris - one of the most data intense MPP programs out there

Michigan Ford - another data intense MPP with good social policy angle

[hanburger]

Thank you for taking the time to write this very helpful analysis! Point taken re: new programs, internal politics, and employer/alumni network. 

Edited September 8, 2020 by hanburger