Choosing To Major In Public Policy

What You Can Learn From Former PPS Students

The original graduating class of PPS undergraduate majors in 1974 had four students. From that start the department has graduated more than 2,300 undergraduate majors. The most frequent job titles among PPS alums include attorney, associate, vice president, analyst, and president.

In Fall 2004 we surveyed PPS alums, asking for feedback on what they valued most about the major, things they wished the department had done differently, and suggestions for change. Their reactions to the major may help you consider how to structure your selection of PPS courses. The alums praised and valued these features of the program:

  • The interdisciplinary nature of the major and the chance to construct their own course of study.
  • The analytical tools taught in PPS 55, including decision analysis and negotiation tactics.
  • Learning to write a concise memo. Alums working in law, business, and government all stress the importance of writing skills to their jobs.
  • The ethics classes, which forced students to think about their roles in society and pushed them to learn to communicate their ideas. Recent graduates stressed the value of Tony Brown's leadership classes. Alma Blount and the Hart Leadership Program also earned high praise from a number of alums.
  • Professors Alden, Ascher, Blount, Brown, Coles, Cook, Fleishman, Hamilton, Jones, Lipscomb, Kuniholm, Mayer, Mickiewicz, Miranda, Payne, Rogerson, Stansfield, Stubbing, Tifft, and Vaupel, who were singled out as inspiring and/ or influential.

Students who wrote an honors thesis mentioned it as the highlight of their academic career. The internship experience was frequently mentioned as central to the PPS major. Students indicated they learned a great deal about policymaking and learned about their own approach to careers and the workplace from the experience. Many voiced concerns that financial restrictions might make the internship experience unavailable to students on financial aid. Elise Goldwasser, internship coordinator, was singled out for praise in helping students find internships that match their interests. Graduates from the Glasgow program praised its operation.

Regrets cited by the alums included:

  • Many wished they had chosen electives that related to each other. They asked that the department provide a more coherent framework for course selection so that students will see connections across classes.
  • The lawyers wished there had been a pre-law class that explained how the law functions in U.S. society.
  • Individuals in business, nonprofits, and law frequently regretted that they had not taken more courses in quantitative analysis. Those in business expressed regret they had not taken any classes in finance.
  • They wished they had taken history courses as PPS majors. They felt their training often lacked a historical context.
  • Some expressed regret that they had not written a thesis.
  • Alums in the private sector mentioned they wished that they could have gotten more advice on careers their senior year. They felt they might have ended up happier in the nonprofit or government sector but instead took the road frequently traveled into law or consulting. Some suggested having more career panel discussions aimed at seniors.
  • Many graduates wished they had taken a class in communication, including public speaking and Powerpoint presentation.

Another way to approach your selection of courses is to read research on the college experience. Richard Light's book Making the Most of College is a very accessible assessment of what types of courses and college experiences lead students to rate their undergraduate years as happy and productive. A key theme in the book is the benefits of working closely with a professor in a class or research setting, which is an argument for writing an honors project if you become a PPS major.

A final way to evaluate your decisions at Duke is to think about what you hope to accomplish in life and work backwards to see the types of courses and experiences that will prepare you for this. What will be important to you later in life? What will you value most? What will you be remembered for? Consider how the namesake of the Institute, Terry Sanford, was described by his friends and colleagues in remarks at Duke and on the House and Senate floor (see http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?i105:I09844:i105SAN.html ).