Beyond the classroom: Making it real

Effective policymakers need more than analytic tools; they need the professional skills to apply their analysis and to communicate it effectively. At the Sanford Institute, MPP students receive extensive education and training, along with hands-on opportunities to hone their skills.

Spring Consulting Projects

Browse database of
MPP consulting projects During the spring semester, teams of first-year MPP students serve as consultants to clients with actual policy problems. Recent clients include Greater New Orleans, Inc., the North Carolina Community College System, the Durham Affordable Housing Coalition, the N.C. Division of ollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance, Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers (TROSA), and the N.C. Department of Revenue.

Students define a problem and frame a policy question, conduct interviews in the field, research and develop policy options, undertake analysis, draw conclusions, and make recommendations to the client. The Spring Consulting Project helps prepare students for their master’s projects and gives them concrete experience to show future employers.

Professional Writing Instruction

In professional settings, the ability to write succinct, clear, and effective memoranda and policy papers is invaluable. Our students receive extensive feedback and one-on-one coaching from our writing instructor to develop their writing skills.

Internships Open Doors

Career Services
internship information During the summer after the first year, MPP students complete required internships. These positions allow them to field test their new analytical tools, make connections for their master’s projects, determine areas for further study, and perhaps discover a career they love—or cross one off their list.

Your Master’s Project

Master’s Project
requirements As a capstone to the MPP degree, all students complete a master’s project. This yearlong policy research project allows students a second, in-depth, real-world opportunity to employ all their MPP skills while working closely with a faculty advisor.

Recent Master’s Projects suggest the variety of clients and breadth of topics Duke students tackle:

• Financial and Economic Analysis of Green Schools in North Carolina
• An Analysis of the Impact of Regulatory Reform on the Financial Losses of Power Sector Utilities in India
• Beyond Criminalization: Building a Victims-Centered Approach to Combating Human Trafficking in Massachusetts
• Reaching “All” in Uganda’s Push toward Education for All
• Using Microfinance to Combat Illegal Logging in East Kalimantan, Indonesia
• AIDS Orphans and Education in Eastern and Southern Africa