Master of International Public Affairs

Globalization presents challenges that demand a new perspective on governance. An increasingly global economy is shaping a new business-government relationship, blunting governments' regulatory capacity and introducing greater complexity to the design of public policies to promote important social goals. At the same time, critical policy problems such as environmental degradation, the spread of deadly viruses, and financial market instability increasingly require global governance strategies that coordinate across nations the actions of governments, businesses, and non-governmental agencies. In short, globalization has stretched the boundaries of public affairs, analytically and managerially. More than ever, the major and the mundane issues of governance link governments with players outside the public sector and beyond domestic borders.

Through rigorous professional training across several disciplines, the Master of International Public Affairs (MIPA) degree program prepares students from the United States and worldwide to engage in governance in ways that meet the challenges of globalization. MIPA graduates work in government at home and abroad, in businesses involved in the global economy, in non-governmental agencies with an international focus, and in consulting firms analyzing international policies' implications.

The Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin – Madison is a highly ranked program that offers domestic and international degrees in public management and policy analysis. Our strength derives from our core faculty and a broader group of faculty affiliates who are part of the internationally renowned social science departments at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Our faculty have international reputations in their academic disciplines, and they have spent the greater part of their careers working on problems of public policy and governance.

Our faculty also have close personal links to local, national, and international policymakers. La Follette prides itself in the continued practice of the Wisconsin Idea, a century-long commitment of the University of Wisconsin to extend its expertise beyond the campus borders to solve the world's problems at large. In the early decades of the 20th century, Wisconsin's great social scientists were inventing and adapting the programs of Social Security, Unemployment Compensation, and Workers Compensation so the general society could benefit from the gains made possible by a rapidly changing free market. These social scientists worked closely with political leaders like Robert M. La Follette to help enact legislation that embodied the best social science research.