Accelerated Master of Public Policy (BA/BS+MPP)

Get your MPP by adding just one year to your W&M bachelor's degree.

Click here for a brief informational video. And read below for additional details.

W&M Public Policy offers an Accelerated Master of Public Policy in which a small number of current W&M undergraduates of any major may earn both a Bachelor's degree and a Master of Public Policy in a total of five years.

Eligibility

Students apply for the accelerated BA/BS+MPP option in February of their junior year. Applicants must reasonably expect to have earned at least 90 undergraduate credits with a 3.0 overall GPA (or a 3.3 junior year if a recent transfer student) and a 3.3 in their major by the end of the spring semester of their junior year to be eligible for the program. Given our focus on policy analysis, we prioritize applicants who have demonstrated success in quantitative subjects like Economics and Mathematics.

Coursework during the fourth year:

In the fourth year, students will be enrolled in 10 graduate credits during the fall semester and 8 graduate credits during the spring semester. They will also need to take any remaining undergraduate courses during this year so they can graduate from the BA/BS at the end of their fourth year. Students may count 12 graduate credits (6 credits per semester) earned during their fourth year towards the 120 credits needed for their undergraduate degree.

There are many factors that determine what exactly a student’s schedule will look like during their fourth year. To help guide prospective students, here are two common scenarios:

For students on financial aid: Students currently receiving financial aid will still be eligible for the same financial aid package during BA/BS+MPP year if they are enrolled in at least 12 undergraduate credits. Because students can count 6 graduate credits per semester towards their undergraduate record, this leaves 6 additional undergraduate credits that a student will need to enroll in per semester to meet financial aid requirements.
For students not on financial aid: To be considered a full-time undergraduate student, students need to be enrolled in at least 12 credits. This applies to students during their BA/BS+MPP year since they are technically still undergraduates. This means that students need to enroll in at least 2 additional undergraduate credits in the fall semester and 4 additional undergraduate credits in the spring semester to maintain full-time status.

Students can take a test to place out of two courses scheduled for the first semester of the fourth year:

Students can test out of the 1 credit PUBP500 (Math for Public Policy Analysis)
Students can place out of PUBP602 (Quantitative Methods I) if they earned an A or A- in ECON308.

Summer requirements

While there are no graduate classes offered during the summer, students are expected to do policy-relevant work. Specifically:

Students are required to participate in mandatory MPP Orientation prior to starting their fourth year, which begins the week prior to the official beginning of the undergraduate school year. Students should plan accordingly.
In the summer before starting the BA/BS+MPP, students should be preparing themselves for the program by doing policy-relevant work. Acceptable activities include participating in a policy-relevant summer internship, doing policy-relevant research, or taking classes to prepare for the program. Applicants will be asked to describe their plans on the application, even if they are not finalized. For example, if a student has applied to policy-relevant internships, please describe them in your application.
Students will participate in an MPP internship in the summer following their fourth year. Students are required to search for their own internships, but the Public Policy program supports students in this effort. The Director of Graduate Studies of W&M Public Policy must approve this internship in the spring of the fourth year. As with all MPP students, students in the accelerated program may be eligible for supplemental summer funding if they accept unpaid or very low-paying summer internships.

Financial aid for the fourth year

Students in their fourth year are still undergraduate students. To maintain eligibility for undergraduate financial aid during this year, most students will need to take 6 purely undergraduate credits in addition to the graduate coursework. Financial aid is complicated and customized for each student. We highly recommend scheduling a meeting with the financial aid office before starting the program to go over details specific to each student’s financial aid package.

Financial support for the fifth year

Students in their fifth year are fully graduate students and are eligible for financial support (including tuition waivers, tuition reductions, and research assistantships). Financial support is based on merit (including performance in the first year of the BA/BS+MPP) and is subject to the availability of funds.

Trice Fellowship

The Trice Fellowship program gives preference to projects/internships addressing international issues. Applicants for the Trice Fellowship should clearly state this in the application, and an international orientation in the course of study, the project/internship, or both must be apparent. Exceptionally qualified students may be named Trice Fellows, and receive full tuition remission and generous stipend support for their postgraduate year in the program.