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The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan is one of the nation’s top policy schools, providing research, teaching and public discussion on current national and international policy issues. Our mission is to offer outstanding education for leadership in public policy analysis and public management and to excel in social science research that illuminates public policy issues and promotes better public policy. The Ford School offers masters degrees in Public Policy and Public Administration; dual masters degrees with schools and departments across the University of Michigan; joint PhDs with Economics, Political Science, or Sociology; and a newly launched undergraduate liberal arts degree, the Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy.
The Ford School’s history began in 1914 when the University of Michigan political science department launched a new program leading to a Master of Arts in Municipal Administration—the nation's first systematic public service training program with a municipality focus.
As World War II came to a close, the demand for trained public servants increased. In 1945, the Regents approved a plan to establish the Institute of Public Administration (IPA), officially launched in 1946. The IPA focused on training individuals with the public administration skills necessary to serve in state and local government in the United States.
In the mid-1960s, analytic methods from the social sciences began to be applied to the understanding of public concerns. The Institute, which was renamed the Institute for Public Policy Studies, re-designed its curriculum to include rigorous training in the social sciences, particularly quantitative analysis of economic, political, and organizational questions. The focus of faculty research and student training moved to national and international issues.
Recognizing the value of research and education in public policy and the academic excellence of its program, the University of Michigan established the School of Public Policy in 1995. Since achieving this status, the school has been on an expansion track.
The school was re-named in 1999 to honor President Gerald R. Ford, the 38th President of the United States and a 1935 graduate of the University of Michigan. In 2001, the school established joint doctoral programs with the departments of economics, sociology, and political science. Construction of a new home for the school, Joan and Sanford Weill Hall, began in the fall of 2004 and was completed in fall of 2006. A new junior-senior undergraduate Public Policy degree program was launched in 2007.
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