Public, private, and nonprofit organizations partner with La Follette students to address real‑world challenges.
Working closely with clients, student-consultant teams produce analytical reports that can lead to bill drafts, inform legislative agendas, assess program funding, or determine areas of future focus. Projects can take the form of program evaluations, policy analyses, or cost-benefit analyses. Students analyze existing data, search for data and information in the research literature, and collect information through interviews with experts. The deliverables are highly valuable to the client while giving the La Follette School students necessary practical experience.
There is no cost to clients, but the organization must have a dedicated point person with the capacity to be responsive to the student team throughout the semester.
Project proposals
Let us know about your project idea and organization by submitting a project proposal.
First-time applicants are encouraged to contact outreach@lafollette.wisc.edu before submitting project proposals to determine if the project scope and focus is a good fit for our courses.
What makes a good project?
- Clearly stated problem, challenge or opportunity and clearly defined deliverables that can be accomplished in approximately 14 weeks
- Dedicated point person with capacity to be responsive to the student team (time commitment of point person is approximately 4-6 hours during weeks 1-4, 10-12 hours during weeks 5-10, and 6-8 hours during weeks 11-14)
- Availability of data and/or documentation
- Support of organizational leadership
- Openness to unexpected analysis results
What questions have teams helped answer?
- What are the social and economic benefits of affordable housing development?
- What are the barriers domestic violence survivors encounter when applying for emergency assistance grants? How can those barriers be reduced?
- What is the connection between climate change, child poverty in wealthy nations, and childhood development?
- What are the economic and social impacts of the Broadband Expansion Grant Program in Wisconsin?
Selection and timeline
Potential client organizations submit project proposals via the project proposal form linked above.
La Follette School faculty select projects based on several criteria which include student interest; clearly stated problem, challenge, or opportunity; and clearly defined deliverables.
2023 timeline
- May 15: Priority Consideration Deadline
- June 16: Clients notified of proposal status
- September 6: Fall semester instruction begins
- December 19: Analysis delivered
Contact
Have questions about your potential project?
Email: outreach@lafollette.wisc.edu.