17 Public Policy Preparatory Programs

Develop practical, applicable skills for analysing, evaluating and communicating public policy.

The Associate in Arts for Transfer (AA-T) Area of Emphasis: Law, Public Policy and Society is a degree program designed to prepare students for further study of law. The coursework required to earn this degree has been identified as preparation for law school upon completion of a bachelor’s degree.

This interdisciplinary area of emphasis focuses on the development of communication skills, introduces students to the legal field, and prepares students for further study in a variety of majors such as Political Science, Communication Studies, Economics, Philosophy, Social and Behavioral Sciences.

The global health major introduces students to global health as an area of study, research, and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide. A synthesis of population-based prevention with individual-level clinical care, global health aims to reduce health disparities through attention to modifiable determinants of health and provision of sustainable health services and human development. As a field of study, global health has emerged from tropical medicine, public health, and international health to encompass the complex transactions between societies that are a defining feature of globalization. Because many global health problems stem from economic, social, environmental, political, and healthcare inequalities, defining these problems and designing solutions is highly interdisciplinary and involves fields that span across health sciences, medicine, and public health, but also that bridge to a broad range of other academic fields, including biology, agriculture, anthropology, business, computer science, engineering, environmental sciences, economics, history, law, psychology, public policy, and sociology, among others. To introduce students to this interdisciplinary field, the global health major integrates courses in the natural and social sciences and encourages students to take relevant electives in the humanities.

The Undergraduate Certificate in Public Administration and Public Policy provides students with a basic understanding of government agencies, social services, and the policy making process. The program enables students to develop and enhance analytical, research, writing and presentation skills.

Unlock your potential in policy leadership. Learn the art of crafting and delivering compelling policy proposals. Sharpen your diplomatic and communication skills to earn respect as a policy advisor. Develop a practical toolkit of skills to propel your career in public policy. The Public Policy and Administration Certificate delves into the multifaceted impact of government on our lives, addressing policies enacted by federal, provincial, and municipal governments that touch every aspect of society.

The Undergraduate Certificate in Public Policy allows undergraduate students to apply a policy perspective to their major course study. It bolsters their skills for success in the workforce or their graduate school coursework. Students build a strong foundation for careers in government, nonprofit organizations, or the private sector.

The Public Policy program consists of an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary course of study that presents an overview of the development and implementation of important public policies affecting the lives of local, regional, and state residents. This program is designed to equip students with the skills and tools to successfully engage in civic debate and to critically evaluate and analyze the development and implementation of substantive public policies, while providing an opportunity to work with governmental and non-governmental organizations and agencies in a direct way.

The Certificate in Policy Analysis program is designed to equip students with practical skills to analyze and develop effective policies. It covers key areas such as understanding policy processes, ev...

The field of political economy examines the many intersections of politics and markets, within and between countries. While applying a broad array of approaches, political economy emphasizes empirical analysis, while attending also to the context of history and theoretically and normatively significant claims about the way in which politics and markets work. Substantively, the field concerns interactions between economic and political development (does prosperity fuel democracy?); cooperation and conflict among nations, groups, and individuals (what causes civil war?); the distribution and redistribution of material resources and economic power (who gets what?); the effects of political actors and political structures upon economic outcomes (how do autocracies promote growth?); the effects of economic actors and economic structures upon political outcomes (how does inequality foster corruption?); the political causes and consequences of technological and structural change, growth, and globalization (how do party systems integrate new issues?); and the politics of regulation, market interventions, and global governance (how can policy address climate change?). Students can choose among three disciplinary tracks: Economics, Political Science, or Public Policy.

The certificate in Public Budgeting and Financial Management is designed to help students develop practical skills in managing public funds and resources. It covers core topics like budget planning, f...

The course was devised in association with various public, private, and voluntary sectors, for example, the Police, Armed Forces, Local Government, Probation, Youth Offending Teams, and the Civil Service. You will study a broad spectrum of issues relating to various public and private services and other sectors.

The Institutions and Governance major enables students to study the formal and informal rules that societies use to govern themselves at the local, national, and global levels. By focusing on institutions and governance as a guiding framework, students can better understand the dynamics of wealth and poverty, innovation versus technological/economic stagnation, and stability versus turmoil in different states and societies, as well as exploring the dilemmas and questions raised by different conceptions of a just society. Students in this major will be exposed to the deep political science, economic, sociological, historical, anthropological, and normative explorations of institutional designs in a variety of constructs, such as governments, interest groups and social movements, media, and religion, among others.

The United States of America is a nation of paradoxes best understood through seeing its place in the world. Born in the era of transatlantic revolutions beginning in the late eighteenth century, the US was founded on ideals of individual liberty, yet has had to grapple with its other undemocratic foundation in African slavery and Indigenous dispossession. As a nation that, on principle, has eschewed and isolated itself from the empire-building practices of other great powers, the US sometimes implicated itself, in those very same practices, eventually becoming itself a global power.

The Pearson BTEC Level 5 HND in Policing will provide students with the generic knowledge, understanding, and skills to enter employment within Policing, the wider public service sector, or entry to Higher Education through a top-up degree.