The McCourt School of Public Policy is one of ten constituent schools of Georgetown University. The McCourt School offers master's degrees in public policy, international development policy, policy management, data science for public policy, and policy leadership as well as administers several professional certificate programs and houses fifteen affiliated research centers. The McCourt School has twenty-one full-time faculty members, ten visiting faculty members, more than one-hundred adjunct faculty members and approximately 450 enrolled students across the various degree and executive education programs.
The school is based in Old North, the oldest academic building on Georgetown University's main campus. Formerly known as the Georgetown Public Policy Institute (GPPI), the McCourt School became Georgetown University's ninth school in October 2013 as a result of a $100 million gift from Georgetown University alumnus Frank McCourt.
The school is led by Maria Cancian, whose research focuses on public policy and family wellbeing. Cancian was preceded by Michael A. Bailey, who led the school as interim dean from 2017 to 2019. Bailey was preceded by Edward B. Montgomery, who became Dean of GPPI in August 2010. Montgomery was preceded by interim Dean William T. Gormley.
History
Establishing a public policy school in Washington, D.C. originated as an idea in the Georgetown University Department of Government and Economics in the late 1970s.
In 1980, the Government Department instituted a certificate program and in 1982 hired two junior faculty members to teach courses in public policy. For the next five years, the Public Policy Program expanded, granting a master's degree program in government with a concentration in public policy to approximately 15 students. In 1985, the Government Department hired the first part-time director to help establish the framework for the Public Policy Program. By the late 1980s, enrollment in the program had grown to about 75 students.
In 1990, the new president of Georgetown University, Father Leo O'Donovan, S.J., prioritized the expansion of the Public Policy Program under the direction of the program's first full-time director, Colin Campbell S.J., a Georgetown professor of philosophy and politics. Dr. Campbell was charged with the task of significantly expanding the program's faculty, students, and facilities.
In 1996 the Public Policy Program was renamed the Georgetown Public Policy Institute.
Dr. Judy Feder was appointed dean in 2001. Faculty, applications, enrollment, staff, and facilities all grew under Dr. Feder's tenure. Most notably, three master's degree programs were added to the school: Master of Policy Management degree for mid-career students in 2001, MPM-Public Service (MPM-PS) for students from government agencies in 2004, and an evening program to supplement the traditional Masters of Public Policy (MPP).
In 2013, the university announced a $100 million gift—the largest single gift in Georgetown University history—from alumnus Frank McCourt (C’75) for the establishment of the McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown's ninth school, and their first new one since the McDonough School of Business was formed in 1957.
Under the leadership of Dean Edward B. Montgomery, the McCourt School launched its first year in October 2013 and enrolled its first students in the Master of International Development Policy (MIDP) program in the fall of 2012. The McCourt School launched the Executive Master in Public Policy Leadership in 2014.
In 2021, Frank McCourt donated an additional $100 million to the school, half of which is to be used to fund faculty and research and the other half of which will support financial aid.
Academics
Master of Public Policy Degree
The Master of Public Policy (MPP) is a 48 credit hour program offered as both a two-year full-time and three year evening program. The program's focus is designed to meet the needs of individuals desiring a strong analytical background, particularly those planning careers in public or private sector policy analysis and management.