Public Policy
About Public Policy
Our Program and Courses
As a public policy student at F&M, you will learn not only how societal problems develop, but how they can be addressed and solved in real-world contexts. F&M鈥檚 public policy program is designed to teach you critical policy analysis skills while building relevant knowledge, helping you to ask meaningful questions, understand societal problems, and consider a variety of solutions to resolve complex policy issues. Because public policy involves so many other disciplines, much of your coursework will cross into other programs, allowing you to study public policy through a blended lens of economics, government, philosophy, and more.
Joint Major in Public Policy
You can major in public policy by combining the field with another discipline. This flexibility offers an exciting opportunity to refine your degree and design a major that is customized to your learning goals. Examples include:
- Public Policy & Business, Organizations and Society
- Public Policy & Economics
- Public Policy & Environmental Studies
- Public Policy & Government
- Public Policy & International Studies
- Public Policy & Public Health
- Public Policy & Science, Technology and Society
- Public Policy & Sociology
By the time you graduate, you will be able to demonstrate:
- Analytical skills and knowledge of public policy concepts to help you frame problems and questions.
- The ability to determine the size and shape of societal problems.
- The skills to develop and evaluate solutions to address complex policy issues.
- An understanding of how and why multiple disciplines are interrelated and connected.
- A strong ability to communicate complex ideas to others in order to work together toward a joint goal.
- The ability to collaborate effectively in a manner that translates to the professional
arena.
Wondering what public policy courses are like? Explore our course catalog to see what classes are available to you.
Learning Outside the Classroom
With F&M鈥檚 many research and study-abroad offerings, you鈥檒l have plenty of opportunities to step outside the classroom and apply what you鈥檝e learned to the world around you.
Internships
Internships allow you to get valuable hands-on experience now and gain a competitive
advantage in the job market later. Public policy students have successfully interned
in local government, at departments of health in Philadelphia and Connecticut, and
in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia.
Explore internships at F&M
Research Opportunities
Every student at F&M has extraordinary opportunities to engage in independent or faculty-led
research. Students often use the summer to dive into this research, while others pursue yearlong
independent study projects. As a public policy student, you鈥檒l also have the opportunity
to attend our Policy Analysis Workshop, learning professional methods of policy analysis
to conduct policy research on a community issue.
Explore research at F&M
Community Service
F&M鈥檚 public policy program emphasizes public and community service as part of your
educational experience. You鈥檒l also find exceptional opportunities to gain valuable
hands-on experience through internships and funding awards such as the Ken Duberstein
鈥65 Public Service Internship Endowment, Schapiro-Cadwell Internship Endowment, and
the Bill Jahn '65 and Sharon Jahn Public Service Internship Endowment and Fund.
Off-Campus Study
Studying abroad is an excellent way to add value to what you鈥檝e learned with real-life experience.
Past students have visited Spain, Argentina, England, Germany, India, Jordan, South
Africa, Viet Nam, Ireland, Denmark, and Bhutan.
Explore off-campus study at F&M
Public Service Leadership Fellows
Leadership through service to others.
Public service, at its core, is the pursuit of the common good. Those dedicated to public service aim to strengthen communities through democratic engagement and collaboration with community members. The Public Service Leadership Fellows program is designed to help students like you develop the skills you need to innovate in the public sphere and effect positive change as future leaders.As a Public Service Leadership Fellow, you will:
- participate in four professional development workshops during the academic year. These workshops will focus on specific leadership competencies borrowed from the 鈥淧ublic Service Leadership Model鈥 of the Partnership for Public Service
- attend periodic, seminar-style discussions with local public servants (these discussions will allow Fellows to learn from public servants about their career paths as well as the challenges and opportunities public servants face in doing their work)
- shadow local public servants at least twice during the academic year
- build bonds with other Fellows through social events like 鈥減ublic service movie nights鈥
- prepare, in consultation with the program鈥檚 academic director, an end-of-year self-assessment that examines the Fellow鈥檚 leadership preparedness (including personal and academic growth over the course of the year) and develops their long-term public service goals
Degree Partnerships
Carnegie Mellon University鈥檚 Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy
A partnership between F&M and Carnegie Mellon University鈥檚 Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy provides pathways for F&M students into high-demand graduate programs in public policy, technology, and the arts, offering meaningful tuition support and access to industries including government, technology, cybersecurity, and entertainment.Through this shared initiative, up to 10 F&M graduates admitted to Heinz College鈥檚 master鈥檚 degree programs annually will receive scholarships that reduce tuition by at least 30% each semester. F&M graduates will also be eligible for consideration for additional merit-based scholarship support up to 100%.
The collaboration expands postgraduate pathways for F&M students seeking advanced degrees and will apply to all Heinz College master's degree programs, including:
Master of Public Policy (University of Virginia)
顶级国产视频 & Marshall public policy students and alums accepted for admission for the Master of Public Policy Program at the University of Virginia Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy will receive an annual fellowship of at least $12,500 for Virginia residents and at least $20,000 for non-residents. This funding is provided for each year of the two year program provided students remain in good standing. Application fees are waived for the Master of Public Policy Program. Contact Patrick Fleming at pfleming@fandm.edu for more information.
Success Beyond F&M
What can you do with a liberal arts degree in public policy? Our graduates are prepared to pursue advanced degrees or begin their chosen careers from day one. The analytic and intellectual activities that make up the work of public policy 鈥 including interpretation of text, writing, collaborating with others, and objective thought 鈥 help you develop useful and productive skills valuable for any post-college plan.
Graduate School
Many F&M public policy graduates have been accepted into graduate-level public policy programs at Princeton University, the University of Michigan, Duke University, the University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University, the University of Pittsburgh, the London School of Economics, and the University of Virginia, among others.
Career Paths
With a degree in public policy from F&M, you鈥檒l find you鈥檙e abundantly prepared for careers that focus on public service, including government, social policy, social services, public administration, international relations, or international development. Recent graduates have embarked on a number of exciting career paths, holding positions such as:
- Attorney
- Media Relations Specialist
- Public Administrator
- Public Health Advisor
- Teacher
- Government Relations Manager
- Policy Analyst
The F&M Poll in the Classroom
F&M is home to the Center for Opinion Research, which is widely recognized as one of the nation鈥檚 foremost survey research organizations. The Center for Opinion Research publishes the , the oldest statewide public opinion poll exclusively directed and produced in Pennsylvania, and one of the top surveys in the United States.
The Center for Opinion Research actively engages F&M students, offering you the unique opportunity to contribute to and better understand the work behind an effective survey of voters鈥 opinions. You can assist with data analysis, reporting, survey question development, and more.
鈥淏eing able to have this opportunity to help draft questions for a statewide poll that gets national media attention鈥攖hat is an incredible opportunity that a lot of students probably would not have been able to have at other schools,鈥 said Ethan Grabowski 鈥26, a government and history major.
Alumni Spotlight
From Public Policy to Law
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Alumni Spotlight
鈥淚 believed F&M was an institution that could provide me with a quality education.鈥
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Related Fields of Study
Economics
Economics is a social science that focuses on the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. By studying economics at F&M, you鈥檒l develop a framework for understanding how the economy works, its shortcomings and how to remedy them, and broaden your perspective of how the economy influences daily lives in all corners of the world.
Government
F&M鈥檚 Department of Government has earned a reputation as one of the finest in the country. Study government at F&M and examine power, politics, justice, equity, and change while developing skills in language, economics, mathematics and philosophy.
Philosophy
Learn to think clearly and creatively about the big questions: the nature of meaning, morality, justice, art, the mind, knowledge, language, and reality. By studying philosophy at F&M, you鈥檒l search for understanding while discovering how to value the reason for an answer as much as the answer itself.
Public Policy at F&M in Action
March 24, 2026
Seat at the Table: Students Work Alongside National Experts on the F&M Poll
Led by two faculty mentors, 顶级国产视频 & Marshall juniors and seniors with a keen interest in political polling, civics, and voter sentiment meet weekly to discuss best practices and trends in polling, how to analyze and contextualize results, and even take a hand in crafting the wording of poll questions. It鈥檚 a prime example of the type of real-world, hands-on experiences that build the kind of high-demand skills that prepare F&M students to excel in industry or graduate school.
January 22, 2026
AI Research Bridges Environment and Economic Studies
How do you prove the economic value of clean water? Under the guidance of Professor Patrick Fleming, two students leveraged a unique combination of field research and AI to gauge Chesapeake Bay Watershed quality.
November 13, 2025
Trailblazing Research Examines Cigarette Label Alternatives
Three F&M students helped conduct a groundbreaking pilot study in Lancaster this summer, assisting Professor Hollie Tripp with tobacco regulatory research. It's the first F&M instance of biospecimen collection from non-campus participants.