The Duke in DC program offers a unique and exciting opportunity to live, study, and work in the nation’s capital.

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Insight

Experience up close how public policy shapes society. Whether your future is as a lawyer, a social entrepreneur, a teacher, a high-tech innovator or an engaged citizen, public policy matters to you. This program helps you understand how.

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Spring in DC

The program is offered in the spring semester and it has a pre-professional tilt, connecting classroom study to experiential learning oriented around policy innovation and public leadership. Participants meet in weekly seminars with Duke faculty members. Assignments are tailored to the student's policy interests.

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Connections

Courses feature high-profile practitioners – often Duke alums – who are eager to share how Washington really works and to guide students' intellectual and professional development. A 28-hour/week internship is included.

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Transformative

"The Duke in DC program was transformative for me both personally and professionally. Through my internship and networking opportunities, I was able to explore my interest in criminal justice work. But most importantly, I was able to meet a group of uniquely talented and amazing people who I can now call some of my closest friends." – Vineet Chovatia PPS’25

Vineet interned in the Public Defender Service's Special Litigation Division, and has returned to Washington to intern for Senator Cory Booker.

About the Faculty

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Kristin Goss 

Professor Kristin Goss directs the "Duke in DC" program, which provides select undergraduates with an immersive experience combining work experience and policy-oriented seminars. Goss's scholarly work focuses on why people do (or don't) participate in political life and how their engagement affects public policymaking. 

 

Featured Video

About Duke's Influential DC Network

Duke Sanford School of Public Policy students have access to an influential network in Washington, DC. -- 13,000 Duke alums call the region home.