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International Corner

Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
New York University

Posted March 2004
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The Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service provides professional graduate education in finance, management and public policy for practice-oriented international public service. Wagner international degree programs are intended to prepare graduates to serve as development policy analysts and managers for a variety of international public service employers, including multilateral and bilateral development agencies, national and sub-national governments, non-governmental organizations, and health agencies.

The Wagner School has two types of international programs: two-year professional degrees (intended primarily for people at earlier stages of their career) and a one-year mid-career professional degree (intended for people with at least five years of work experience). Both types of degree programs can be done on a full-time or part-time basis.

Two-Year Programs
Wagner offers three two-year master’s degree programs, the Masters in Public Administration (MPA)/Public and Nonprofit Management (PNP), the MPA/Health and the Master of Urban Planning (MUP). The program in Public and Nonprofit Management and Policy provides both general and specialized training for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers concerned with the future of government and nonprofit organizations. The Health Policy and Management program offers a solid grounding in the management, financial management, and policy analysis of health care from a public service orientation. The Master of Urban Planning program prepares students to work on the key challenges facing communities, large cities, and metropolitan regions.

Beginning with students admitted for September 2004, the Wagner School will offer new Global Public Service Specializations in all three of the two-year master’s degree programs. The new specializations require a set of foundational post-core international courses, plus a minimum number of additional courses that vary by program. PNP students can elect to do a General PNP International Specialization or an area-specific specialization in International Public Finance, International Public Management, or International Public Policy.

The new international specializations build on the broader values and mission of the Wagner School to train outstanding public service professionals. Specifically, they are intended to:

• Promote an understanding of how public and non-profit institutional structures and managerial processes vary around the world, and an understanding of the way that major international agencies function;
• Provide a comparative interdisciplinary foundation that bridges cutting-edge conceptual thinking, critical analytical techniques, and concrete management skills relevant for those with an interest in international public service work; and
• Facilitate an ability to appreciate and to deal with the critical challenges of implementing complex public service policies and programs in varying contexts.

One-Year MS Program
Building on its well-established program of management education for professionals in the public and non-profit sector, the Wagner School offers the Master of Science (MS) in Management of International Public Service Organizations to address the needs of the international community for well-trained managers. The program is intended primarily for experienced professionals eligible for graduate study who have between five and seven years of professional experience. Many MS students currently work for multinational organizations or NGOs addressing global problems and aspire to widen their background in management in order to achieve positions of greater leadership responsibility.

A structured management track is available, but MS students have substantial flexibility to develop in consultation with their faculty adviser a personalized program of international finance, management and policy classes at Wagner and other NYU schools to meet their specific needs.

Additional information is available at http://www.nyu.edu/wagner, or send an email to the Wagner School at wagner.admissions@nyu.edu.