The MPA in Global Leadership (MPA-GL) curriculum covers global issues, leadership skills, and strategic thinking, highlighting complex challenges—in the United States and worldwide—and innovative approaches to tackling them.
The program begins with an intensive summer session specially designed for this program that provides students with the information and analytical frameworks needed for understanding and addressing critical contemporary global policy issues. During the 6-week summer session, students are introduced to global leaders while engaged in cohort-building activities and professionally guided self-assessment exercises to help identify their educational goals for the remaining two semesters. The session also provides refresher workshops in economics and quantitative analysis,
In consultation with the MPA-GL Program Director, students design individualized curricular plans for Fall and Spring semesters – at least 12 credits per semester, drawing from more than 400 existing courses at SIPA and, with approval, elsewhere in the University.
In addition, students are part of a unique 2-credit seminar each semester on policy leadership, with exposure to global leaders in the public and private domains and with class interaction, including student presentations about their areas of expertise and plans for the future.
Students must complete a minimum of 34 points to be considered for graduation:
- 6-points of the summer program. Organized in five focus areas: i. geopolitical stability; ii. democratic resilience; iii. energy, climate, and sustainable development; iv. inclusive prosperity and macroeconomic stability; and v. technology and innovation. The session ends with a week-long training on leadership skills.
- 3-points of the core class. Students select at least one course from one of the following categories: 1) Economics and Quantitative Analysis; 2) Management and Leadership; 3) Policy Foundations.
- 6-points of seminars on global leadership.
- 19-points (minimum) of electives. Students undertake coursework in various disciplines and sectors during the Fall and Spring terms.
Contact Us
Mauricio Cárdenas, Professor of Professional Practice
Director of the MPA in Global Leadership
mc4701@columbia.edu
Beatriz Guillen
Assistant Director of the MPA in Global Leadership
bg2344@columbia.edu
Mauricio Cárdenas, Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs; Director of the MPA in Global Leadership
Jacob Lew, Visiting Professor of International and Public Affairs
Sarah Holloway, Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of International and Public Affairs; Director, Leadership, Innovation, & Design Specialization; Director, Global Ed Tech Entrepreneurship Program at the Center for Development Economics & Policy
Thomas Christensen, James T. Shotwell Professor of International Relations
Peter Clement, Visiting Senior Research Scholar in the Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies; Adjunct Professor
Scott Barrett, Lenfest-Earth Institute Professor of Natural Resource Economics
Glenn Denning, Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs; Director, MPA in Development Practice (MPA-DP)
Jason Bordoff, Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs and Founding Director of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA
David Sandalow, Inaugural Fellow, Center on Global Energy Policy; Senior Research Scholar; Co-Director, Energy and Environment Concentration
Yasmine Ergas, Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of International and Public Affairs
Stephen Friedman, Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs
The MPA-GL starts with a six-week immersion that covers global issues, leadership skills, and strategic thinking, highlighting difficult problems—in the United States and worldwide—and innovative approaches to tackling them.
Week 1. Geopolitical Stability
Week 2. Energy, Climate, and Sustainable Development
Week 3. Democratic Resilience
Week 4. Inclusive Prosperity and Macroeconomic Stability
Week 5. Technology and Innovation
Week 6. Leadership: Students will get an in-depth introduction to key leadership concepts. These concepts will provide them with a theoretical framework to guide their thinking and practical tools to integrate the learning into their respective professional environments.
Students must select at least one course from one of the following categories:
Economics and Quantitative Analysis
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Points |
| Points |
| EMPA U8213 | Microeconomics and Policy Analysis I | 3.00 |
| INAF U6016 | Cost-Benefit Analysis | 3.00 |
| INAF U6022 | Economics of Finance | 3.00 |
| INAF U6039 | International Banking: Workings, Trends and Challenges | 3.00 |
| INAF U6301 | Corporate Finance | 3.00 |
| INAF U6508 | Using Big Data to Develop Public Policy | 3.00 |
| INAF U6599 | Quant III: Labor Economics For Policy Students | 3.00 |
| INAF U6602 | Economic Development for International Affairs | 3.00 |
| INAF U6771 | Economic Inequality and Its Policy Implications | 3.00 |
| INAF U6820 | Theory of International Political Economy | 3.00 |
| INAF U6889 | Impact Measurement ＆ Evaluation for Sustainable Development | 3.00 |
| INAF U6085 | Economic Development in Latin America | 3.00 |
| INAF U6604 | Applied Econometrics | 3.00 |
| INAF U6608 | Economics of Education Policy | 3.00 |
| PUAF U6251 | Urban Economics | 3.00 |
| SIPA U6500 | Quantitative Analysis I for International and Public Affairs | 3.00 |
| SIPA U6501 | Quantitative Analysis II for International and Public Affairs | 3.00 |
| SIPA U8500 | Quantitative Methods in Program Evaluation and Policy Research | 3.00 |
Management and Leadership
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Points |
| Points |
| INAF U6016 | Cost-Benefit Analysis | 3.00 |
| INAF U6762 | Risk Management for UN Crisis ＆ Post-crisis Responses | 3.00 |
| INAF U6041 | Corporations and Human Rights | 3.00 |
| INAF U6085 | Economic Development in Latin America | 3.00 |
| INAF U6186 | Community Economic Development | 3.00 |
| INAF U6226 | Leadership ＆ Innovative Policy Making | 3.00 |
| INAF U6372 | Women's Leadership: Impact of Policy | 1.50 |
| INAF U8690 | Managing Humanitarian Emergencies | 3.00 |
| PUAF U6228 | Comparative Social Welfare Policy | 3.00 |
| PUAF U8248 | Leadership ＆ Urban Transformation | 3.00 |
| SIPA U6003 | Analysis of Public Sector Organizations | 3.00 |
| SIPA U6005 | Effective Management in the Public Service | 3.00 |
| SIPA U6014 | Strategic and Entrepreneurial Management | 3.00 |
| SIPA U6016 | Leading ＆ Managing in Moments of Adversity ＆ Opportunity | 3.00 |
| SIPA U6017 | Effective Management in the Public Service | 3.00 |
Policy Foundations
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Points |
| Points |
| INAF U6061 | Global Energy Policy | 3.00 |
| INAF U6089 | Environmental Justice and Climate Resiliency | 3.00 |
| INAF U6042 | Energy, Enterprise and Development | 3.00 |
| INAF U6284 | The Politics of Defense in the United States | 3.00 |
| INAF U6405 | Human Rights and the Politics of Inequality | 3.00 |
| INAF U6508 | Using Big Data to Develop Public Policy | 3.00 |
| INAF U6538 | State Building in the Developing World | 3.00 |
| INAF U6771 | Economic Inequality and Its Policy Implications | 3.00 |
| INAF U6792 | Foreign Policy Crisis Decision-Making | 3.00 |
| INAF U6798 | Central Issues in American Foreign Policy | 3.00 |
| INAF U6858 | Economics of US Social Policy | 1.50 |
| INAF U8142 | Intelligence ＆ US Foreign Policy | 3.00 |
| INAF U6041 | Corporations and Human Rights | 3.00 |
| INAF U6226 | Leadership ＆ Innovative Policy Making | 3.00 |
| PUAF U6228 | Comparative Social Welfare Policy | 3.00 |
| PUAF U6325 | Critical Issues in Urban Public Policy | 3.00 |
| SIPA U6003 | Analysis of Public Sector Organizations | 3.00 |
| SIPA U6005 | Effective Management in the Public Service | 3.00 |
| SIPA U6016 | Leading ＆ Managing in Moments of Adversity ＆ Opportunity | 3.00 |
The Seminar in Global Leadership is the culminating activity and intellectual capstone of the MPA in Global Leadership. The multi-dimensional, two-semester Seminar is designed to help students synthesize and apply knowledge acquired at SIPA and prepare for senior leadership positions in their fields. It introduces them to global leaders in the public and private sector and student presentations about their areas of expertise and plans for the future.
Students enjoy flexibility to design 75 percent of the curriculum, consulting individually with the program director and the most relevant faculty before choosing among 400 courses to tailor the program to their individual needs.
Columbia University is a dynamic institution, attracting new faculty and introducing new courses every year. As a result, the curriculum may vary slightly from year to year.
- Geopolitical stability
- Democratic resilience,
- Energy, climate, and sustainable development,
- Inclusive prosperity,
- Technology and innovation.
Graduation Requirements Overview
Students must meet the following requirements in order to be approved for graduation:
- Complete 34 credits in residence at SIPA.
- Complete all core requirements, including 6 points for the Summer Program, 3 points for the core class, 4 points for the Seminar, and 21 points for electives.
- Have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above.
- Have no pending grades. All grades must be final. Any notations indicating a pending grade must be converted to a final grade prior to graduating. These include “IN” (incomplete), “CP” (credit pending), and “YC” (year-long course).
- Complete and submit the Application for Degree or Certificate by the appropriate deadline.
In addition to the above, please note that grade changes cannot be made post-graduation.
Tracking MPA-GL Requirements
Students can use the Degree Audit Report (DAR) in Stellic to track their academic progress.
The DAR is an unofficial guide to the MPA-DP core.
To request revisions to the Degree Audit Report, please fill out the Degree Audit Report Correction Form and submit the form to the Student Affairs Office.
Degree Audit Report Correction Form