Your complete guide to a PhD in Public Policy

Everything you need to know about studying a PhD in Public Policy

part of Social Sciences

Public Policy deals with the network of interrelated decisions that lead to the creation of new rules, laws and regulations. Public Policy makers consider objectives, means and resources they need to use in order to achieve effective and lasting social change. Proposed policies have to be authorised by legislation, so they need to take into account factors such as relevance, effectiveness, and the interaction with governmental institutions and other policies.

The difference between the study of Public Policy and related disciplines such as Political Science or Economics is that the former focuses more on applying theory to practical solutions. Public Policy creates the basis of constitutions, laws and judicial decisions. The Public Policy discipline integrates theories and methods from Economy, Sociology, Public Management, Political Science and Finance.

Public Policy students will gather in depth information on topics such as applied econometrics and public policy, political psychology and public policy, management aspects of public policy, public budgeting, business of non-profits, and more.

Apart from communication and presentation skills, Public Policy degrees will equip students to methods in disputing public regulations. They will also be experts in policy analysis and implementation.

Public Policy graduates pursue careers in a wide range of sectors including: policy-making and governance, non-profit leadership, international development, social entrepreneurship, strategic and management consulting, public administration and defence, public affairs and communications.

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View all PhDs in Public Policy. Keep in mind you can also study an online PhDs in Public Policy.

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Best Universities for Public Policy on PhDPortal

Universities Location TopUniversities Ranking (2018)
Harvard University Cambridge, United States 1
University of Oxford Oxford, United Kingdom 2
London School of Economics and Political Science London, United Kingdom 3
University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, United States 4
University of Cambridge Cambridge, United Kingdom 5
Stanford University Stanford, United States 6
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Cambridge, United States 7
Australian National University Canberra, Australia 8
The University of Tokyo Tokyo, Japan 9
The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) 10
University of Chicago Chicago, United States 11
National University of Singapore Singapore, Singapore 12
Columbia University New York City, United States 13
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Los Angeles, United States 14
Seoul National University Anyang, South Korea 15
Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, United States 16
Melbourne Business School Melbourne, Australia 16
University of Toronto Pickering, Canada 18
Peking University Beijing, China 19
Syracuse University Syracuse, United States 20
The University of Edinburgh Edinburgh, United Kingdom 21
University of Sydney Sydney, Australia 22
University of Michigan Ann Arbor, United States 23
New York University New York City, United States 24
University of York York, United Kingdom 24
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile Villa Presidente Frei, Ñuñoa, Santiago, Chile, Chile 26
University of Bristol Bristol, United Kingdom 26
Korea University Seoul, South Korea 28
UCL London, United Kingdom 28
Yonsei University Seoul, South Korea 30
National Taiwan University Taipei, Taiwan 31
University of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands 32
University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada 32
Freie Universität Berlin Berlin Steglitz, Germany 34
University of Georgia Athens, United States 35
Georgetown University Washington, D. C., United States 36
American University Washington DC Washington, D. C., United States 37
Princeton University Princeton, United States 38
Indiana University Bloomington Bloomington, United States 39
The Chinese University of Hong Kong Shatin, Hong Kong (SAR) 40
University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia 40
National Autonomous University of Mexico Coyoacán, Mexico 42
University of Birmingham Birmingham, United Kingdom 43
Cornell University Ithaca, United States 44
University of Auckland Auckland, New Zealand 45
Stockholm University Stockholm, Sweden 46
City University of Hong Kong Kowloon, Hong Kong (SAR) 47
Tsinghua University Beijing, China 48
University of Maryland College Park, United States 48
Kyoto University Kyoto, Japan 50
Aarhus University Aarhus, Denmark 51
Autonomous University of Barcelona Barcelona, Spain 51
Bologna Business School Bologna, Italy 51
Boston University Boston, United States 51
Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, United States 51
Central European University (CEU) Vienna, Austria 51
Duke University Durham, United States 51
Erasmus University Rotterdam Rotterdam, Netherlands 51
Ewha Womans University Seoul, South Korea 51
Florida State University Tallahassee, United States 51
Fudan University Shanghai, China 51
George Washington University Washington, D. C., United States 51
Griffith University Nathan, Australia 51
Hanyang University Seoul, South Korea 51
Karolinska Institute Stockholm, Sweden 51
King's College London London, United Kingdom 51
KU Leuven Brussels, Belgium 51
Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) Moscow, Russia 51
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine London, United Kingdom 51
Monash University Clayton, Australia 51
Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Singapore 51
Queensland University of Technology Brisbane, Australia 51
Sciences Po Paris, France 51
Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou, China 51
Sungkyunkwan University Seoul, South Korea 51
Tecnológico de Monterrey Monterrey, Mexico 51
Tilburg University Tilburg, Netherlands 51
University Kebangsaan Malaysia Semenyih, Malaysia 51
University of Alberta Edmonton, Canada 51
University of Bath Bath, United Kingdom 51
University of Glasgow Glasgow, United Kingdom 51
University of Gothenburg Göteborg, Sweden 51
University of Helsinki Helsinki, Finland 51
University of Kent Canterbury, United Kingdom 51
University of Leeds Leeds, United Kingdom 51
University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 51
University of Montreal Montréal, Canada 51
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, United States 51
University of Queensland Saint Lucia, Australia 51
University of Sheffield Sheffield, United Kingdom 51
University of Southern California Los Angeles, United States 51
University of Texas at Austin Austin, United States 51
University of the Andes Bogotá, Colombia 51
University of Vienna Vienna, Austria 51
University of Warwick Coventry, United Kingdom 51
University of Washington Seattle, United States 51
University of Wisconsin Madison Madison, United States 51
Utrecht University Utrecht, Netherlands 51
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands 51
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