Graduate Certificate in Public Policy             Request Information

At the University of Utah, our courses combine the flexibility of online teaching with the advantages and direct engagement of traditional teaching. Enjoy the benefit of studying online at your own pace while still engaging with classmates and instructors. This flexible way of teaching improves your overall experience and your ability to retain what you learn.

Interactive learning comes in a variety of ways:

• Group assignments, where you collaborate via email or a discussion forum to answer a problem set.
• Contributions to a discussion forum, where you directly respond to previous posts.
• Peer reviews, where you review and comment on assignments from other students.

Our classes also offer multiple routes to stay connected and get help:

• Communicate directly with the instructor via email.
• Participate in and guide online discussions.
• Attend online office hours in discussion threads or on the phone.
• Instructors are available in “real” office hours for students on or near campus; for some courses we offer Q&A sessions in a classroom.

Graduate Certificate in Public Policy

Participants must have a bachelor’s degree. If you are a working professional, you do not need to be working toward a degree at the University of Utah (you enroll as a Non-degree Seeking Student at the university). If you are a current graduate student at the University of Utah (master’s or PhD) you can just add the Public Policy Graduate Certificate courses to your current program of study (as a matriculated student).

Public Policy Graduate Certificate: 4 required + 1 elective course = 15 graduate credits

The four required courses for the Certificate are:

PUBPL 6000     Applications of Economic Principles and Public Policy Statistics

PADMN 6320    Public Policy Theories and Applications

PUBPL 6290     Applied Quantitative Methods for Public Policy

PUBPL 6002     Stats Packages for Public Policy

We offer a selection of three online elective courses (you need one for your Certificate):

ECON 6190      Health Economics

PADMN 6323   Policy Analysis

ECON 6380      Law and Economics

Download the Course of Study (PDF).

Examples of job opportunities and salary potential available for Graduate Certificate Holders:

Positions

• Legislative Analyst      $56,653

• Policy Analyst                $56,446

• Fiscal Analyst                 $48,418 

• Policy Advocate            $60,916

• Health Policy Analyst  $60,340

• Policy Researcher         $64,375

Employers

• Federal, state and local government

• Nonprofits

• Corporations

• Think tanks and research centers

We take applications any time of year (rolling admission), but the courses of the Certificate run in accordance with the University of Utah’s semesters.

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Certificate students typically pay tuition rates as defined by the University of Utah. Calculate tuition using the University’s Tuition Estimator*.

*Tuition is subject to change without notice 

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The Public Policy Graduate Certificate is part of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Educations (WICHE), allowing ten participants/students a year from 15 other states to acquire the certificate at in-state tuition rates.

 

The ten subsidized spots are allocated on a first come, first serve basis, when spring admissions for the University of Utah are processed. If subsidized seats are still available after the first allocation they will be dispersed throughout the year as out-of-state applicants submit their applications. If you are interested in or have questions about the subsidized WICHE spots, contact us! mppinfo@cppa.utah.edu or call 801-585 7834.

We have a large number of participation spots both at regular out-of-state tuition rates and in-state tuition (for those applicants who fill the University’s in-state tuition requirements).

This program qualifies for the U of U employee reduced tuition benefit.