MPP CURRICULUM
MPP students will be required to achieve 64 units and a Grade Point Average (GPA) of minimum 3.0 to graduate. Students admitted from AY2023/24 need to complete the following:
7 Core Modules (28 Units)
2 Restricted Electives (8 Units)
You may opt to graduate without a Specialisation.
The core courses focus on imparting practical skills, disciplinary knowledge, and interdisciplinary competencies necessary for the work done by policy practitioners, researchers, public managers and leaders.
- PP5403: Economics Foundations for Public Policy (4 Units)
This course introduces students to key concepts and methods in basic microeconomics and applies them to public policy issues. The course is organised into two parts. The first part is aimed at illuminating the key concepts underlying economic decision making from the perspectives of individuals, firms, and the state. We will discuss the following topics in some detail - consumer theory, production, externalities, public goods, market power along with an introduction to the essentials of game theory and behavioural economics. The second part of the course applies some of the microeconomic concepts to specific public policy cases such as how economic agents respond to changes in incentives; market structures and tradeoffs between competition and innovation, pollution control and public sector pricing.
- PP5103: Politics and Public Policy (4 Units)
This course introduces students to political and organisational factors and constraints involved in the formulation and effective implementation of public policies in various institutional settings. The first part of the course emphasises modern political theories and the effects of political institutions in impacting policy outcomes. The second part of the course introduces case-based discussions from specific political contexts, including Asia to better appreciate the role of political influences and state capacities on how policy makers respond to various public policy challenges.
- PP5137: Introduction to Public Management (4 Units)
This course is an introduction to organisational and managerial perspectives for policymaking and governance. The course will focus on key skills for managing departments, programmes, and citizen-state interactions. The course will emphasise leadership, performance management, public integrity, public value, and accountability, among other concepts as it relates to a variety of local, national, and international organisations.
- PP5406: Methods and Tools for Policy Analysis 1 (4 Units)
This course is designed to train students on the essentials of quantitative methods needed for policy analysis. Students will be equipped to be both consumers of empirical studies on public policy issues as well as be able to perform basic quantitative analyses. The first part of the course introduces students to simple statistical methods and econometric analysis. The second part of the course will offer students a hands on exposure to analysing quantitative data using statistical methods and regression analysis.
- PP5409 Foundations of Public Policy (4 Units)
It is designed to provide students with a working knowledge, theories, and methods for public policy and provide practical lessons and experiences. This course examines and evaluates foundations, approaches, institutions, actors, process, and cycles in public policy. Specifically, it examines the context within which public policy is carried out, the interface among politics, administration, and policy, the manner in which problems reach the government agenda, policy instruments and design, innovation, change and transformation of public policy, implementation challenges, and evaluation of public policy. While so doing, this course also focuses on developing writing and presentation skills on topics of public policy.
- PP5408: Methods and Tools for Policy Analysis 2 (4 Units)
This course builds on the foundational quantitative methods course PP5406 and also introduces different approaches to qualitative research methods (such as interview technique, focus group discussion and case-study design). This course aims to help students better appreciate what types of policy questions and problems are best suited to be analysed using qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods (i.e., analysis using both quantitative and qualitative data).
- PP5110A: Policy Analysis Exercise (4 Units)
The Policy Analysis Exercise (PAE) is a Capstone module undertaken in the final semester of MPP. The PAE offers an opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills acquired in the classroom to real-world policy issues. The PAE is a student-led academic exercise with each student team generally comprising of 3-4 members. The PAE is undertaken with a real-world client. The role of the client is to highlight a policy problem or issue faced, help students identify the project’s parameters and ensure relevance of the research to the client and assist with data collection, where possible.
Students must read two restricted electives, one each from the following baskets;
- Basket 1: Programming for Data Analytics for Public Policy
- PP5530: Introduction to Coding for Public Policy using Python (4 Units)
This course provides an introduction to essential data analytics tools and techniques for public policy analysis. Students will learn how to use Python, a general-purpose programming language to work with big data sets and applying visualization and data analysis methods to generate policy insights.
OR
- PP5531: Introduction to Coding for Public Policy using R (4 Units)
This course provides an introduction to essential data analytics tools and techniques for public policy analysis. Students will learn how to use R, a versatile statistical programming language, to clean, organise, visualise, and analyse data, and to communicate and evaluate data analytics results for academic and professional purposes.
- Basket 2: Public Finance and Public Financial Management
- PP5504: Financial Management for Public Organisations (4 Units)
The objective of the course is to develop a thorough understanding of basic terms, concepts, and methods in public budgeting. In this course students will learn the fundamentals of budgeting and accounting for public and not-for-profit organisations. Students will gain an understanding of how to use financial information in organisational planning, implementation, control, reporting, and analysis.
OR
- PP5136: Public Finance (4 Units)
This course introduces students to core principles of taxation and expenditure analysis required in policy making. It covers equity and efficiency consequences of taxation, different forms of taxation (such as income, value-added, wealth and capital gains taxes) as well as elements of expenditure policy. Students are also introduced to topical issues facing policy makers, such as globalisation and fiscal systems, tax evasion and avoidance and social sector financing.
Specialisation
The Specialisation component offers students depth and sophistication in their selected area of expertise. The Specialisation areas are:
Electives
In addition, MPP students can choose to read any 5 electives as their Elective Courses, either in their chosen Specialisation or from other Specialisations.
For a list of all Elective courses offered, click
here.
Cross-Faculty Courses
Students may also register for a maximum of 3 Elective courses offered in other postgraduate programmes, such as Business Administration, Economics, Political Science and Southeast Asian Studies.
Typical MPP Academic Calendar
| Semester 1 (August - December) |
| PP5137 | Introduction to Public Management |
4 units |
| PP5406 | Methods and Tools for Policy Analysis 1 |
4 units |
| PP5409 | Foundations of Public Policy |
4 units |
| Free Elective |
4 units |
| Semester 2 (January - May) |
| PP5103 | Politics and Public Policy |
4 units |
| PP5408 | Methods and Tools for Policy Analysis 2 |
4 units |
| PP5403 | Economic Foundations for Public Policy |
4 units |
| Restricted Elective or Free Elective |
4 units |
| *Specialisation is not mandatory. If a student chooses not to specialise, the specialisation elective would be replaced by an elective. |
| Semester 1 (August - December) |
| *Specialisation Elective 1 |
4 units |
| *Specialisation Elective 2 |
4 units |
| *Specialisation Elective 3 |
4 units |
| Restricted Elective or Free Elective |
4 units |
| Semester 2 (January - May) |
| PP5110A | Policy Analysis Exercise |
4 units |
| *Specialisation Elective 4 |
4 units |
| *Specialisation Elective 5 |
4 units |
| Restricted Elective or Free Elective |
4 units |
| *Specialisation is not mandatory. If a student chooses not to specialise, the specialisation elective would be replaced by an elective. |
For any semester in which the student’s GPA falls below 3.0, he or she will be issued a warning. If the student’s GPA falls below 3.0, but above 2.5 in the following semester, he or she will be placed on probation. A student whose GPA falls below 2.5 for two consecutive semesters or 3.0 for three consecutive semesters will have his or her candidature terminated.
What is the Policy Analysis Exercise?
The LKYSPP Policy Analysis Exercise (PAE) is designed to engage second-year Master in Public Policy (MPP) students in a supervised project with clients from the public, private or people sectors. The PAE presents an opportunity for students to apply the knowledge and tools acquired through the MPP programme to real-world policy issues, while also adding value to the client organisations by generating fresh perspectives and actionable insights. Students work in small groups with a Faculty Advisor (FA) and a client to identify a policy problem, prepare a project work plan, conduct research (including fieldwork, where relevant), and prepare a final project report that is both relevant to the client and consistent with LKYSPP’s high academic standards. The PAE culminates with a conference where the student groups present their project findings and recommendations to the client.
Profile of our students
- Young professionals with up to five years of work experience, drawn from the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors.
- Each MPP cohort on average has about 60 students from more than 20 countries
- Second-year MPP students having undertaken foundational courses in public policy, economics, research methods, and a diverse set of policy-relevant elective courses.
What makes a successful PAE Project?
A successful PAE project should balance academic rigour and provide insights into both policy research and practice. Given that PAE topics can be wide-ranging, a standard format for the deliverables is not imposed. At a broad level, the student groups should be able to articulate a policy research question and its relevance to the client, review relevant literature, have a good research design based on relevant theories/ theoretical framework(s) learned as part of their MPP programme, and link the results back to their research question.
In designing your projects, you should note that the PAE project is meant to tackle a policy challenge keeping the client’s interest in mind but is not meant to be a consulting project. Students must engage in ethical research practices, as defined by NUS Institutional Review Board (IRB) guidelines. The project needs to be completed within a semester (13 weeks).
The Role of PAE Clients
Every year, LKYSPP invites selected organizations to consider becoming a PAE Client to work with our students on a particular policy issue, topic, or problem. Students may also approach prospective PAE clients directly. Since the PAE is a culmination of their education with us, all topics/projects must allow students to showcase the skills and tools learned as part of the MPP programme. Accordingly, all topics will need to be shortlisted by the faculty in charge of the PAE.
LKYSPP expects a high level of commitment from PAE Clients to ensure a successful outcome. As a client, your role would be to:
- Propose a policy challenge (a blurb of max. 300 words) that will be presented to LKYSPP students at the start of each PAE cycle.
- Participate in a Project Initiation meeting with the student group that is matched with the client
- Meet with students (online or in-person) at least once every three weeks, from November to March.
- Facilitate data collection where possible, including connecting to relevant contact persons and agencies for fieldwork, where possible.
- Assign a nodal contact person, i.e. someone who will act as a client and mentor for the student group. If this person leaves the organization, assign a new contact person and inform LKYSPP.
- Attend the PAE Conference, either in person or online. Date of next PAE Conference: 4 April 2025.
- Provide timely feedback and grade the final PAE report and PAE presentation.
PAE Timeline (for clients)
Please see the PAE Timeline for details on what to expect throughout the PAE Process:
Frequently Asked Questions
Please click here to view some of the Frequently Asked Questions about the PAE Project.