MPA in Global Leadership

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 3-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 Leadership and Global Policy Challenges​ summer class. 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 includes a week-long training on communication, public speaking, and leadership skills.
• 2-points of the economics and quantitative summer bootcamp.
• 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 the two seminars on global leadership.
• 17-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 Guillén
Assistant Director of the MPA in Global Leadership
beatriz.guillen@columbia.edu

Mauricio Cárdenas, Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs; Director of the MPA in Global Leadership

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Scott Barrett, Lenfest-Earth Institute Professor of Natural Resource Economics

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

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

Lief Doerring, Adjunct Associate Professor of International and Public Affairs

Stephen Friedman, Adjunct 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

Jacob Lew, Visiting Professor of International and Public Affairs

Chelsea Mauldin, Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs

Luisa Palacios, Senior Research Scholar in the Center on Global Energy Policy in the Faculty of International and Public Affairs

Arvind Panagariya, Jagdish N. Bhagwati Professor of Indian Political Economy

Jefrey Pollock, Adjunct Associate Professor of International and Public Affairs

Zaki Raheem, Adjunct Associate Professor of International and Public Affairs

David Sandalow, Inaugural Fellow, Center on Global Energy Policy; Senior Research Scholar; Co-Director, Energy and Environment Concentration

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. The summer program includes two classes: 

1. Leadership and Global Policy Challenges

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
INAF U6068	Environmental Economics	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 course will provide students with leadership frameworks and the tools to apply them into their careers, including exposure to real-life leadership case studies across a variety of sectors and geographies. They will learn first-hand from some of the world’s most influential leaders who will shed light on their leadership evolution and share relevant professional development tools. All of these will be complemented by a diagnostic assessment of the students' leadership style at the beginning and end of the degree to allow them to see their progress as a leader and work on the areas for improvement.

Students enjoy the 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 electives curriculum may vary slightly from year to year.

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 Leadership and Global Policy Challenges Summer Class, 3 points for the core class, 6 points for the Seminar, and 17 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