“La Follette’s interdisciplinary positioning at the university afforded me the opportunity to take courses in other departments that I would otherwise be unable to take.”
Course
Education: Elizabeth Janeczko, MPA ’19
“I use my La Follette training regularly. I regularly analyze large sets of data from thousands of students across the network.”
Social Policy, Family Wellbeing: Eleanor Pratt, MPA ’20
“I use the grounding and frameworks I learned at La Follette to help understand the broader context of my policy areas of interest. In particular, the ‘how’ behind the policymaking process.”
Health Policy, Community Economics: Shireen Ohadi-Hamadani, MPA ’20
“Public management, policy analysis, and CBA course work has been valuable in better executing the creation and implementation of our office’s policy and best practices.”
Education: Liliana Teniente Rodríguez, MPA ’23
“I learned a great deal about how to facilitate cross-collaboration and partnerships with staff, students, and faculty which has helped me in my current role.”
Healthy Policy, Healthcare Operations: Mitchell Running, MPA ’17
“What I took away from La Follette was not necessarily specific information or tools that were ‘plug and play’ in my career. Rather, La Follette prepared me for how to think.”
Nonprofit Management, Education: Ayal Weiner-Kaplow, MIPA ’20
“The nonprofit management skills I studied, more in a theoretical sense, help me greatly in applying them in practice.”
PA 200 Contemporary Public Policy Issues
The goal of this class is to offer a general primer on large-scale social, economic and other policies directed by federal and state governments, with specific examples in pressing policy areas. Students will gain a broad overall knowledge of how the majority of state and federal funding is both raised and spent, and the associated policy issues and outcomes. The class takes existing policies and the policy process as a given, explains a subset of them in detail, and puts a focus on a set of specific contemporary public policy questions of concern to policymakers and society. A student of this class will gain a broad overall knowledge of how the majority of state and federal funding is spent and the policy outcomes associated with that spending, including its impacts on society.
PA 201 Introduction to Health Policy in the United States
Offers an introduction to health policy in the United States. Examines the ways in which government plays a role in the provision and regulation of health care. Explores key aspects of health policy including the economics of health care (e.g., paying for and access to health care; the health care workforce; the role of markets and consequences of market/government failures, public policy that supports or promotes health; health care outcomes, quality, and disparities; and tools for evaluation) and special topics of interest such as policy addressing risky health behaviors, aging, mental health, and the Affordable Care Act. Think critically about public and private health issues using the policy analysis process, including policy interventions and their justifications, and gain skills in articulating and communicating policy positions.
PA 230 Advancing Public Policy in a Divided America
Offers an introduction to health policy in the United States. Examines the ways in which government plays a role in the provision and regulation of health care. Explores key aspects of health policy including the economics of health care (e.g., paying for and access to health care; the health care workforce; the role of markets and consequences of market/government failures, public policy that supports or promotes health; health care outcomes, quality, and disparities; and tools for evaluation) and special topics of interest such as policy addressing risky health behaviors, aging, mental health, and the Affordable Care Act. Think critically about public and private health issues using the policy analysis process, including policy interventions and their justifications, and gain skills in articulating and communicating policy positions.