Courses

Open only to students in the MSPP program. Policy and Data Studio builds on the core courses, your advanced coursework, and is specifically meant to deepen your data and data analytic skills, in the content of a policy issue. Studio is a unique end event where you will use data to shed light on a policy question of your choice using the technical skills and specialized knowledge gained from the program.

The course introduces students to the basic tools of real estate analysis and finance. The development and redevelopment of urban real estate, especially housing, is examined from a public policy perspective. Students will learn the acquisition and development process and master the basics of project-level real estate economics. Emphasis is on the financial structure of real estate projects, including tax implications, and how a variety of public policies can influence private development activity.

This course is designed to study the essential role of human resources management within healthcare organizations. It is required for health management students and recommended for health policy and finance students. In order to meet the challenges of the marketplace, organizations will need to improve the quality of the services they provide; streamline their clinical delivery and support systems, and transform their human resources management accordingly.

This graduate course is an introduction to major health policy issues and examines the role of government in the health care system. An important focus of the course is an assessment of the role of policy analysis in the formation and implementation of national and local health policy. Because much of government health policy relates to or is implemented through payment systems, emphasis will be placed on the discussion of the policy implications of how government pays for care.

This course encourages students to think creatively about what it means for a healthcare organization to make quality the highest priority. We will explore the current forces driving the push toward quality outcomes and accountability at all levels and settings of healthcare, while focusing on the philosophy of continuous improvement through team work and statistical thinking. Students will use structural tools for analysis, decision making and performance measurement.

The goal of the course is to help students get the most out of every form of communication: to change minds with the written word, win allies in person, to sway audiences in presentations, and to get what they want out of the various forms of communication most common in the careers of recent NYU Wagner graduates.  Students will work both individually and collaboratively on a series of communications deliverables including: 1) Issue Briefs; 2) Memos; 3) Oral Presentations; 4) Press Releases; 5) Talking Points; 6) one-pagers; 7) Podcast; 7) A short video; and 8) A final

This interdisciplinary seminar brings together law, urban planning and public policy students to analyze historic and current trends in affordable housing, community development, land use, and housing finance.  We use New York City as a laboratory that is both unique from, and similar to, other American cities.  The course focuses on housing/community development policy, real estate and mortgage financing, subsidies, community participation, environmental impact, and neighborhood change such as gentrification and displacement, with particular emphasis on how issues of race, povert

The past decade has seen the increasing availability of very large scale data sets, arising from the rapid growth of transformative technologies such as the Internet and cellular telephones, along with the development of new and powerful computational methods to analyze such datasets. Such methods, developed in the closely related fields of machine learning, data mining, and artificial intelligence, provide a powerful set of tools for intelligent problem-solving and data-driven policy analysis.

This is an advanced course for students who plan to become policy analysts.  Students (a) extend their familiarity with methodologic issues, including research designs, measurement problems, and analytic approaches; (b) get hands-on experience with management, analysis, and presentation of data; and (c) develop skills in reading, critiquing, and reporting on policy-relevant research.

The past decade has seen the increasing availability of very large scale data sets, arising from the rapid growth of transformative technologies such as the Internet and cellular telephones, along with the development of new and powerful computational methods to analyze such datasets. Such methods, developed in the closely related fields of machine learning, data mining, and artificial intelligence, provide a powerful set of tools for intelligent problem-solving and data-driven policy analysis.

This interactive workshop serves as an introduction to the many NYU Libraries resources and services available to Wagner students that will help students develop skills appropriate to graduate-level research. In the session, we will cover fundamental research strategies that will prepare students for course assignments and Capstone projects.

The course focuses on economic inequality and poverty, drawing on research in economics and other social sciences. The aim is to explore research questions, recent empirical approaches, and policy responses. The course draws on international experiences, with a tilt toward the United States, and an emphasis on framing problems comparatively.

In this core course in financial management, students will learn the fundamentals of budgeting and accounting for public, health, and nonprofit organizations. Through readings, lectures, real-world case studies, and assignments, students will gain an understanding of how to use financial information in organizational planning, implementation, control, reporting, and analysis. In addition, students will have the chance to develop their spreadsheet skills by using Excel to perform financial calculations and create financial documents.

Public service work involves some amount of writing and communications. But the tools for success have dramatically changed in the last few years with the development and deployment of Large Language Models and Artificial Intelligence. This communications course will equip students with the skills to leverage AI tools, such as GPT, GrammarlyGo, and other AI products, to produce compelling and persuasive communication  deliverables.

This course explores the political and economic policy issues surrounding hunger and food security, drawing on many case examples. The course will provide an overview of some of the core dimensions of global hunger and food security policy issues, including debates over reconfiguring food systems to address health, equity, and sustainability; a new green revolution; food aid; fair trade, and role of the food system in addressing climate change.

This course, “Urban Design— Visualization Tools & Neighborhood Challenges,” will introduce students to visualization techniques in a series of linked exercises during the first half of the semester; in the second half of the semester, students will further develop these visualization and design tools as they address challenges and opportunities in a rapidly-changing New York City neighborhood. Instructor Joanna Simon will teach the first half of the course while Professor Louise Harpman will teach the second half.

The goal of this course is to develop the key data analytics skill sets necessary to inform evidence-based policy. Its design offers hands-on training in how to make sense of and use large scale real world heterogeneous datasets in the context of addressing real world problems. Students will learn how to scope a policy problem, understand the data generation process, how to manage, combine, and structure data, and how to create, measure and analyze the effect of different data decisions.

From the non-stop subway ride to the “infamed” jaywalking, from the well-acclaimed Citi bike to delivery on almost anything, from the iconic yellow cab to the fist fight over a parking spot, from the Chinatown bus to congestion pricing, this course investigates the kaleidoscope of travel behavior by New Yorkers and their essential connection to the functionality of the City. It explores the unique transportation infrastructure behind these behaviors as well as the policies and rules that provide them and regulate their usage.

This second course in the Housing and Community Development sequence expands upon the foundational understanding of housing and community development policy by focusing on how key policy drivers, the current political and social moment, and core stakeholders are likely to create and/or limit opportunities moving forward. The course will examine the ways that policy does and does not change, primarily by focusing on selected high-profile issues such as pandemic responses related to housing, gentrification, efforts to address racial inequality, and the ongoing challenges of homelessness.

The Economics of Public Policy analyzes the impact of public policy on the allocation of resources and the distribution of income in the economy. In this course, you will learn how to use the tools of microeconomics and empirical analysis to answer these questions: When should the government intervene in the economy? How might the government intervene? And, what are the effects of those interventions on economic outcomes?

September 11 brought a dramatic surge in what Americans expected of themselves and their civic institutions. Americans reported increased interest in all aspects of public life, including voting, volunteering, and careers in government. Three years later, however, the interest has yet to produce a parallel increase in civic activity.

Women have engaged and been represented in public service in America through their fearless Women's Suffrage movement to gain the right to vote, which officially began in the 19th century, in 1848, during the Seneca Falls Convention, where the first women's rights convention, was held and was triumphantly realized in the early 20th century After a hard-fought series of votes in the U.S.

The past five years have forced a national reexamination of the institution of the American presidency. And the effect has been traumatic. Allies of former President Trump celebrated the disruption of presidential “norms” in support of populist ideals. Supporters of President Biden bemoaned the disappearance of those “norms” and saw, especially on January 6th 2021, the threat that a resurgent “Imperial Presidency” posed to American democracy and its constitutional system. This course will introduce students to the evolution of the presidency, especially its phases in the modern era.