Master of Science in Public and Urban Policy

Welcome to the home of the Master of Science in Public and Urban Policy* at The New School’s Milano School.  Our graduate program produces leaders committed to public service who are prepared to go out in the world—and change it.

Master of Science in Public and Urban Policy Mission 

Master of Science in Public and Urban Policy Fact Sheet

Visit the Public and Urban Policy (MS) page at newschool.edu to learn about degree requirements, application information, program faculty, and the urban policy lab.

Client-Based Projects 

Now more than ever, there is a need for sound public and urban policy that upholds our values of equity and social justice. Cities are where inclusive and innovative policies are tested and grown and we use these settings as laboratories for informing effective public policies that give back to the community.

Urban Policy Lab | Featured Project

The Urban Policy Lab course taken in the second semester of the first year is an applied policy-analysis experience in which students work together in small teams to resolve a policy issue for a public or nonprofit decision-maker. 

Project: NYC Bail Payment Reform

This Urban Policy Lab project advised the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) on how to reduce delays in bail payment in New York City, thereby preventing unnecessary incarceration and expediting defendants’ right to a speedy trial.

In order to determine the barriers to paying bail in NYC and to find possible solutions, the student team interviewed experts involved in reforming the bail system, consulted literature on NYC’s current bail process, and reviewed bail reform case studies from other jurisdictions. The core of its research consisted of twenty-two qualitative interviews with bail payers. The team conducted them at all 4 NYC jails and several courthouses, at a variety of days and times, to learn more about bail posting experiences. The team presented its findings to MOCJ at an oral briefing at the New School, and in a subsequent report. MOCJ has implemented some of the students’ recommendation.

Project Collaborators

Student Team: Monae Evans, Miranda Nelson, Michael Shank, and Amber Thomas

Faculty Supervisor: Rachel Meltzer

Client: Molly Cohen, Associate Counsel, Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice

Urban Policy Lab Website

Urban Policy Lab Schedule 2017

Advanced Seminar Capstone Projects | Professional Decision Reports

In their final semester of study, students work with a client to analyze and present solutions to real-world issues faced by practitioners in the field producing a professional decision report (PDR) as the final requirement to complete the MS degree.

Professional Decision Reports Fall 2016—Spring 2017

Professional Decision Reports Fall 2015—Spring 2016

Professional Decision Reports Fall 2014—Spring 2015

 

*The Master of Science in Public and Urban Policy is the program formerly known as Urban Policy Analysis and Management.

 

Race in the U.S. Course Responds to Race Issues in Real Time

  Linda Sarsour recalled the moment in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks when her life as a Muslim-American changed forever. On that day, Sarsour returned home from classes at Kingsborough Community College to Sunset Park, where her mother was watching her kids. Entering the house, Sarsour bumped into her mother, who was rushing to pick up Sarsour’s brother from school. She was stunned by what her mother was wearing — or more precisely what she wasn’t wearing. “I told her, ‘You forgot to put on your hijab,’” recalled Sarsour, whose morning in classes had prevented her from learning ...

Milano Professor Maya Wiley Featured in The Guardian & MSNBC

Urban Policy & Management professor and Senior Vice President for Social Justice Maya Wiley was recently featured in The Guardian. In her article titled,"Diversity is the Great Right-Wing Scapegoat for Working Class Woes" Wiley discusses the current state of higher education, and the great barrier to college, cost. Wiley writes, according to "a recent study by the Institute for Higher Education Policy (reported in the Atlantic) found that students in families earning around $160,000 or more can generally afford about 90% of the more than 2,000 colleges studied. Students from families earning $69,000 or less can only afford 5% or less of those ...

Alumni Profile: Chelsea Wilson (Urban Policy ’17)

CHELSEA C. WILSON ALUMNI   Graduated May 2017 Chelsea C. Wilson is a recent graduate of the Master’s Degree in Urban Policy Analysis and Management from Milano School of International Affairs,  Management, and Urban Policy at The New School. Currently, she works as a Policy Consultant Intern at The Child Welfare Organizing Project and  has completed her thesis on child welfare issues affecting parents and families in New York City. Before coming to The New School, Chelsea was a New York City Civic Corp member working at the Fordham Law School Feerick Center for Social Justice. She completed her undergraduate degree from Brooklyn ...

SGPIA Professor Michael Cohen attended the Vatican Workshop on the Human Right to Water

On Friday, February 24, 2017, Pope Francis addressed the Vatican Workshop on the Human Right to Water in Rome. He insisted that the right to safe drinking water is a basic human right requiring deliberate action and a central place in the framework of public policy. “The questions concerning the right to water are not marginal, but basic and pressing," the Pope said.  In attendance was SGPIA Professor Michael Cohen, whose extensive work on urban development, including his recent tenure on the UN Habitat III Policy Unit on Municipal Finance, has made him a world renowned expert on the subject. “I ...

Milano Student tells Immigrant Stories

Milano Student Shagana Ehamparam produced an amazing story and podcast as part of Professor John Rudolph's class on "Telling Immigrant Stories". The work is entitled: "Goalllll! The Changing Face of Ice Hockey" and addresses how hockey welcomes immigrant communities. Check her article and podcast here. Shagana is currently pursuing her Master's degree in Urban Policy and is also a Research Assistant at The Center of New York City Affairs ...