Master of International Development Policy
You want to change the world. The McCourt School can help. Our Master of International Development Policy degree has a unique focus on the rigorous analytical skills that are needed to generate solutions to the most pressing and complex policy challenges in developing and emerging economies.
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Deepen your Impact
The STEM-eligible MIDP Program is very different from most other development studies programs, as it equips students with the essential technical and analytical skills necessary to design, implement, and evaluate policies and programs in developing countries. The MIDP supplements this focus on rigorous analysis with courses and professional work experiences that enhance your understanding and facility politics, management, and ethics that you need to navigate the professional challenges that are commonly encountered in the public sector and the international institutions that work with them.
MIDP Faculty
Ask MIDP students and alumni, and they will emphasize the importance of two aspects of their experience: the incredible faculty who teach in the program and the incredible students who comprise their MIDP cohort. The teaching faculty are truly distinctive for their long and impressive careers in international development research and policy design.
A Testimonial
I wanted a graduate program that would equip me with the knowledge and analytical skills to help me become a more conscientious and effective practitioner in order to design more sustainable and effective programs and policies. Ultimately, I chose McCourt because of its evidence-based approach to development, the strength of its rigorous quantitative sequence, and its proximity and many connections in the International Development hub within DC.
U.S. News & World Report Rankings
The Summer Experience
MIDP students are required to spend at least half of their summer in a program-relevant professional placement. But while this is a “requirement,” it is also one of the most valuable parts of the MIDP experience, combining field experience, usually in a new country, with the opportunity to put technical skills learned in the classroom into practice. Most MIDP students devote 10-12 weeks of their summer to their summer professional placements.
Employment Outcomes
Our graduates thrive in the public, private, nonprofit and multilateral sectors. Learn more about what you can do with a MIDP degree.
The McCourt Community
The McCourt School of Public Policy is a diverse community of problem solvers, committed to moving bold ideas to action.
Meet our Students
I’m glad to have a friendly and amazing group of like-minded people with me as we navigated through our coursework.
The most important thing for me as a policy maker is to contribute to policies that affect subgroups that I am passionate about. And so I love the fact that on several occasions, I have spoken and felt my voice was heard.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to be taught by and interact with some of the eminent researchers and practitioners in the field of international development.
McCourt School News
New study, designed by McCourt assistant professor Andrew Zeitlin and UC San Diego professor Craig McIntosh, shows that cash transfers to young people in Rwanda were more effective than a job…
This year, three economists were awarded a Nobel Prize for their rigorously analytical approach to international development – an approach that is also at the heart of the McCourt School…
How To Apply
Graduate school is a significant investment of your time and resources. Learn more about how to apply to the McCourt School.