Creating Policy Changemakers

At the McCourt School, we’re dedicated to shaping the future by tackling complex challenges through impactful public policy. The Joint Program in Public Policy (JPPP) is the first step in an expansive career as a future changemaker, whether in federal agencies or international aid organizations, think tanks or advanced degree programs, public office or private corporations. The JPPP combines Georgetown’s renowned liberal arts education and a policy-focused social science curriculum to prepare students to take on the world’s most pressing challenges.

About the Joint Program in Public Policy

The Joint Program in Public Policy is Georgetown’s academic home for all undergraduate degree programs in public policy. Jointly administered by the College of Arts & Sciences and the McCourt School of Public Policy, it offers undergraduates in the class of 2027 and beyond the opportunity to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy.

Discover the JPPP

A.B. in Public Policy Curriculum

The A.B. in Public Policy provides students with the opportunity to explore Georgetown’s signature liberal arts curriculum on the Hilltop, through which students gain exposure to a broad variety of disciplines and approaches to knowledge. As juniors, students transition to the Capitol Campus, to engage with interdisciplinary frameworks of policy design and implementation, build specialized skills and experience at the center of the policy world. 

Explore our Curriculum

“I definitely wanted to do something that was more applied, and I felt like policy was that. It gets at what people are frustrated about and what we see and would like to dissect further in the news. Doing public policy in DC was kind of the dream for me.”

Read Asha’s story

Study Across Two Campuses

Public policy students have the unique opportunity to live and study on two campuses, spending their first two years immersed on the Hilltop, before completing the second half of their time at Georgetown on the Capitol Campus immersed in the policy world. In this sense, public policy students will have the best of both worlds: the residential small college experience and the urban university experience.

Explore our Two Campuses

Life in DC

Be a part of the city that shapes the world, where business, policy and culture intersect. A truly international city, home to more than 170 embassies, you’ll share in new experiences as you take in world-class restaurants, a vibrant music scene and historic landmarks. Through unparalleled opportunities to work, learn and serve, become a part of the very fabric that makes this city so breathtaking.

Life in the City

Begin Your Journey

Students in Georgetown’s College of Arts & Sciences Class of 2027 can talk to their advising deans and declare public policy as their program of study.  First-year applicants to Georgetown’s Class of 2028 may directly apply for admission into the joint program in public policy by selecting that option on the first-year application.

Apply Now

Featured Stories

Discovery & Impact, Student Experience

Learning About Policy Where Policy is Made: Inside Georgetown’s New Undergraduate Program

For the Joint Program in Public Policy inaugural cohort, public policy is not just theory — it’s embedded in their campus experience.

October 29, 2025

News, Student Experience

This Public Policy Junior Drums for the Washington Commanders on NFL Sundays

Emmanuel Assefa (C’27) performs music with multiple ensembles on and off campus. This season, he’s a part of one more ensemble: the Washington Commanders Marching Band.

October 20, 2025

General News, Student Experience

She Transferred to Georgetown To Study Public Policy and Help Small Businesses Thrive

For Asha Gudipaty (C’27), enrolling in the McCourt School’s Joint Program in Public Policy is a step toward empowering small businesses.

September 26, 2025