Making it Easy to Pursue Dual Degrees

An MPP degree is a valuable complement to a degree in a professional or academic field. The Sanford School makes it easy to obtain dual degrees from one of Duke's or UNC's professional programs. Dual MPP degree options require 39 credit hours.

Our popular dual-degree programs involve Duke's top-ranked Law School, School of Medicine, Fuqua School of Business, and Nicholas School of the Environment as well as UNC-Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School and the UNC Law School. Due to the curriculum structure for dual degree students, we do not offer a dual degree option with PhD programs or program not listed herein..

The typical first-year course sequence for a dual-degree student consists of the following requirements:

Summer Internship: Performed in the summer after completing the first MPP year.

After completing the first MPP year plus the summer internship, students are placed on leave of absence from the Graduate School and register for courses through the Law, Business, Environment and Earth Sciences or Medical School. During the final year of study in their dual-degree programs, students register with the Graduate School for three or four courses, two of which focus on the development, research, and writing of the Master’s Project under the close supervision of a public policy faculty member.

Please note: Separate applications are required for dual degree programs. If you plan to pursue a dual degree with another institution, please check on that institution's application requirements and procedures. Students applying under these curriculum options must use separate evaluation forms and recommendations for each of the two applications; you may use the same person(s) for both applications, but the forms must be submitted independently in addition to submitting separate, independent transcripts and tests scores. We have dual degree agreements with Duke and UNC Law (JD); Duke Medicine (MD); Duke and UNC Business (MBA); and Duke Environment (MEM).