The University of Massachusetts Amherst
  • Ready to be a changemaker?

    A Master of Public Affairs (MPA) is in your reach.

    Available as a 4+1 MPA for outstanding undergraduates from UMass Amherst and the 5 Colleges.

  • Professional Training

    Transform your potential into engaged policymaking, effective public management and creative social enterprise.

  • Dedicated to Equity

    SPP is recognized nationally for integrating social equity into our academic and practical work.

Welcome to the UMass Amherst School of Public Policy

Make Positive Social Change. Become a Leader in Public Service.

Learn to solve problems for the common good and become a leader in the nonprofit, public, or private sector in programs that balance policy and management analysis, professional skills development and practical experience.

For undergraduates, we offer a new bachelor's degree in public policy, launched in the fall of 2022. Undergraduates can also earn a certificate in public policy.

For graduate students, take advantage of one of several degree options:

Graduate students can enroll on a full- or part-time basis. The GRE is not required to apply. We strive to make our graduate programs financially accessible to all students.

The UMass Amherst School of Public Policy received the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration’s inaugural Social Equity Award.

Request information about our graduate degree programs.

News

photo of Shoub

Kelsey Shoub Co-authors New Article that Finds Partisan Congressional Speech Shifts with Platform

Kelsey Shoub has co-authored new research finding that members of Congress tend to use more politically polarizing language in forums that are more likely to attract a national audience, such as social media, and the least polarizing language in e-newsletters and floor speeches. “While it is easy to separate Democrats and Republicans analyzing their statements on these platforms, their intra-party positions vary depending on the medium they’re using,” Shoub says. “This helps to explain the cultlike following of some members who use social media to offer fiery takes on national issues.”
(Phys.org, 3/26/24; News Office release)

Dr. Shanthie D'Souza

Shanthie D'Souza Publishes New Analysis of Women's Rights in Afghanistan

Shanthie M. D'Souza, Fulbright-Nehru Visiting Chair in Public Policy, recently published an analysis with the Middle East Institute, "Women’s rights under the Taliban: The socio-economic consequences of political exclusion," as part of the Institute's Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance Initiative.

Read the article here.

Michael Ash at lectern

Michael Ash & PERI release updated "Greenhouse 100 Suppliers Index"

Researchers including Michael Ash, professor of public policy and economics, at the UMass Amherst Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) recently released the second annual edition of their Greenhouse 100 Suppliers Index.

Professor Libby Sharrow headshot

Professor Sharrow interviewed on New Books podcast

The New Books Network podcast interviewed Professor Sharrow and their collaborator, Jamie Druckman,
about their new book, Equality Unfulfilled: How Title IX's Policy Design Undermines Change to College
Sports (Cambridge University Press, 2023).

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Wu wins Editors’ Prize for Best Scholarly Paper in Nonprofit Management & Leadership

Assistant Professor Viviana C. S. Wu, recently won the Editors’ Prize for Best Scholarly Paper in Nonprofit Management & Leadership (Vol. 32) for her article “Community leadership as multi‐dimensional capacities: A conceptual framework and preliminary findings for community foundations” published in volume 32, issue 1 (Fall 2021).

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UMass Amherst selected for $1 million EPA grant; Harper selected as principal investigator

The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced that UMass Amherst has been selected to receive a $1,111,418 grant to fund research to address the drivers and environmental impacts of energy transitions in underserved communities.

Hannah Karcinell

Karcinell publishes op-ed on white supremacy and gun violence in Miami Herald

Hannah Karcinell, MPP '23, recently authored an op-ed published in the Miami Herald discussing the recent killing of three Black people and how institutions failed to stop a gunman.