University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public & International Affairs
Master of Public and International AffairsPittsburgh, USA
DURATION
2 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2025
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
Key Summary
Scholarships
Explore scholarship opportunities to help fund your studies
Introduction
Gain the versatile skills to participate in international affairs—whether that’s at the UN or in war-torn conflict zones. The MPIA degree will prepare you for a career as a policymaker, diplomat, intelligence official, global business leader, nonprofit manager, or policy researcher.
Professional Skills
- Human security and rights
- Intelligence collection and analysis
- International relations and diplomacy
- International trade and finance
Area Studies Certificates
If you’re looking for an international career in a specific region of the world, you can enhance your master’s degree with a graduate certificate from the University Center for International Studies.
Specializations
- Africa
- Asia
- Western Europe
- Eastern Europe
- European Union
- Global Studies
- Latin America
- Russia
Joint Degrees
You can pursue two graduate degrees simultaneously through our partnerships with other professional schools at the University of Pittsburgh and with two foreign universities. This approach reduces the number of credits needed for both degrees and helps shorten your time to graduation.
- MPIA/Law Degree (JD)
- MPIA/Master of Business Administration (MBA)
- MPIA/Master of Public Health (MPH)
- MPIA/Master of Business Administration (MBA)
- MPIA/Master of Science in Information Science (MSIS)
- MPIA/Master of Social Work (MSW)
- Joint degree through the University of Geneva in Switzerland or Kobe University in Japan
Gallery
Curriculum
Concentrations
Human Security
Because the globalization process has made the world seem exponentially smaller, threats from tsunamis, earthquakes, disease and starvation are arriving faster and in a more dramatic fashion than ever before. One of the most innovative, forward-thinking disciplines in international affairs today, the human security major covers a wide swath of issues critical to the safety of people worldwide.
GSPIA’s program, one of the first of its kind in the United States, emphasizes the development of peacekeeping and peace-building skills. Students study threats to individuals from nongovernmental, nonmilitary sources. Examples of threats include civil wars, international migration and crime, global climate changes, and natural disasters. We teach students to focus on the human condition as a planet, resulting in a new generation of leaders able to guide our global community through some of the most perilous times it has ever experienced.
International Political Economy
From the Euro to the yen, today’s global economy operates in a climate of change. The international global political economy (IPE) major teaches students to understand globalization and the role the state plays, as well as market strategies for corporations and their corporate identities. Courses target competencies in finance, economics, international trade, and development. Specific topics range from the work of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to political climates in post-Communist states and the role of women in developing countries.
GSPIA IPE students are idealistic, curious about the world, and eager to put their vision into practice. Recent IPE graduates include a treasury expert with the Republic of Turkey, a project management specialist for the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Mission in Moscow, a presidential management fellow with the U.S. Department of Commerce, and a United Nations Fulbright Fellow with the Department of Social and Economic Affairs.
Security & Intelligence Studies
The post-9/11 world has brought remarkable change to national and international security. Issues of strategy, weapons systems, national defense, and the role of government are being redefined every day. GSPIA’s major in security & intelligence studies (SIS) approaches issues within an international context and covers a variety of topics, including transnational organized crime, terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and competition for natural resources.
SIS students are interested in the use of technology, investigation, and discovery and often have a desire to travel internationally. Our program prepares students for careers in the security or intelligence fields with various think tanks or intelligence agencies, such as the FBI or CIA.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
Employment Data – Class of 2020
- 25% Federal Government
- 3% Local/State Government
- 25% Nonprofit/NGO
- 47% Private