Policy Related Master Program with High Chance of Full Funding
TL;DR
- Princeton Master in Public Affairs (MPA) and Master in Public Policy (MPP) guarantee full funding to all admitted students.
- MIT Technology and Policy Program (TPP) does not guarantee full funding, but most of the admitted students finance their study through research assistantship.
- If you are into transportation policy, you can consider MIT Master of Science in Transportation (MST) program which offers concentration on transportation planning and policy.
Introduction
I am writing this post because I am quite surprised that very few people know about Princeton MPA/MPP and MIT TPP financing model. Even many of MIT alumni and current students are not aware that vast majority of TPP students finance their study through research assistantship. Hence, I hope this post can spread the words.
Princeton MPA and MPP
The Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy at Princeton offers 2 public policy program, the 2-years Master in Public Affairs (MPA) and the 1-year Master in Public Policy (MPP). The Woodrow Wilson school is probably the most generous public policy school out there. According to their admission viewbook, almost (if not all) admitted student receive full funding and most of their students graduate debt-free.
MIT SoE Model and MIT TPP
Before discussing how the majority of MIT TPP students finance their study, it is worth discussing the MIT School of Engineering (SoE) research model of graduate education financing. The TPP student handbook gave the following snapshot on the SoE research model:
The gist of the SoE research model is that students work as research assistant or teaching assistant to help finance their study, and (hopefully) the research work that they conduct can be used to fulfill their degree requirement. This is hardly a new idea, as many PhD programs employ this model. But what most people don’t know is that most (if not all) research programs within the MIT school of engineering employ this model, including the SM programs. And this is not limited to those SM programs which serve as a milestone to a PhD. TPP as a terminal SM which is not a milestone to any PhD program also uses this model. With a few exception of students with military/government fellowship, most TPP students finance their study by working as RA or TA. This is not as generous as the Princeton offering, but it is a much better option than taking loan.
So, what is TPP? TPP is not strictly speaking a policy program, in the sense that it does not train its students how to run public office. It is best viewed as policy oriented engineering program. The equivalent programs for TPP are not Princeton MPA or Harvard MPP. The equivalent programs for TPP are TU Delft Engineering and Policy Analysis, and Stanford Management Science & Engineering program. In fact, the US government authority classifies the program as system engineering program, which is reflected on the I-20 document of foreign student. This classification, I believe, is the historical legacy of MIT Engineering System Division, which administered TPP before the creation of MIT Institute for Data, System, and Society. While many TPP students conduct system engineering research, and the majority of TPP students work on technical engineering projects, there are few students who work on less technical projects that are still technology related.
MIT Interdisciplinary Program in Transportation
If you are specifically interested in transportation policy, then you may want to consider the MIT Interdisciplinary Program in Transportation. One of the program areas that the program offers is Transportation Planning, Policy, and Sustainability. Like TPP, the MST program also use the research model, and according to their website, most (but not all) MST student receive Research Assistantships (RA).
Conclusion
If you are thinking of pursuing a policy or policy related master program, you really should consider applying to any of these programs. And if your particular interest is in policy oriented engineering research, MIT TPP or MST may be a good fit for you.
