BA in Public Policy

Planning for Success

There are no prerequisites in order to declare the Public Policy Studies major. However, there is a flow to the major requirements and advance planning is important. 

All courses, with the exception of PUBPOL 155, must be taken on a letter grade basis in order to qualify for the major.

5 CORE COURSES 

1. PUBPOL 155D: Introduction to Policy Analysis -- This course is a prerequisite for all of the the core courses except STATS 199L and PUBPOL 303.  This is the gateway course for the major. Effective Fall 2023, PUBPOL 155D will be offered as a S/U course.
2. PUBPOL 301: Political Analysis for Public Policy
3. PUBPOL 302: Policy Choice as Value Conflict or PUBPOL 330/GLHLTH 210 Global Health Ethics
4. PUBPOL 303: Microeconomic Policy Tools or ECON 201D: Intermediate Microeconomics I -- Note: students who have taken Econ 201D cannot take PUBPOL 303.
5. STA 199L Introduction to Data Science and Statistical Thinking -- STA 198L, STA 101L, STA 102L, STA 104L, STA 111L, STA 130L, or ECON 104 may substitute for STATS 199L.

2 REQUIRED COURSES

1. PUBPOL 304: Economics of the Public Sector 
2. History Elective – Choose an elective from this list. -- Note: the history elective must be taken on campus at Duke; it cannot be a transfer or study abroad course.

4 ELECTIVES

• 4 PUBPOL Electives at the 160-699 level (one of which MUST be a 401-699 level course)

INTERNSHIP & COURSE 

• Internship and PUBPOL 120: The internship and the non-credit, pass/fail internship course.