Requirements and Electives

Computing Requirement

Students must complete either CS 1315, CS 1301, or a computer programming course approved as satisfying the general education requirements in computer literacy.

Wellness Requirement

All undergraduate students attending Georgia Tech must satisfactorily complete a wellness requirement (HPS 1040 or equivalent).

Designated Courses in the Major

The core curriculum for the major consists of:

POL 1101 Government of the United States
PUBP 2010 Political Processes
PST 2020 Philosophical Analysis of Policy Choices
PUBP 2030 Organizations and Policy
ECON 2106 Microeconomics
PUBP 3020 Applied Political Economy
PUBP 3030 Policy Analysis
PUBP 3120 Statistical Analysis for Public Policy
PUBP 3130 Research Methods and Problem Solving
PUBP 4010 Policy Task Force I
PUBP 4020 Policy Task Force II
PUBP 2651 OR 4651 Public Policy Internship

A C or better is required in all BS PP core courses. No core courses may be taken on a pass/fail basis.

Major Clusters

Students must complete two three-course clusters in substantive areas of public policy or specified policy-relevant disciplines. Courses can be listed under more than one cluster, but students cannot apply the same course to two clusters. With preapproval, a student can count one of the following toward a cluster: research for credit, internship for credit (in addition to the core internship requirement), or a special topics course. Transfer credit and study abroad courses (except courses taught by School of Public Policy faculty) cannot be applied to the cluster requirement. Students cannot create custom clusters. The following currently are public policy clusters:

  1. ENVIRONMENTAL AND ENERGY POLICY CLUSTER
    1. PST 4176 Environmental Ethics
    2. PUBP 3315 Environmental Policy & Politics
    3. PUBP 3600 Sustainability, Technology, & Policy
    4. PUBP 4338 Environmental Impact Assessment
    5. PUBP 47xx Energy Policy & Technology
    6. PUBP 6300 Earth Systems
    7. PUBP 6310 Environmental Issues
    8. PUBP 6312 Economics of Environmental Policy
    9. PUBP 6314 Policy Tools for Environmental Mgt
    10. PUBP 6320 Sustainable Systems
    11. PUBP 6326 Environmental Values & Policy Goals
    12. PUBP 6330 Environmental Law
    13. PUBP 6760 Negotiation & Conflict Management
  2. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY CLUSTER
    1. PUBP 4214 Gender, Science, Technology & Pub Policy
    2. PST 3127 Science, Technology & Human Values
    3. PUBP 3502 Info Technology/Commun/Telecom Policy
    4. PUBP 4111 Internet & Public Policy
    5. PUBP 4410 Science, Technology, & Public Policy
    6. PUBP 4414 Technology, Innovation & Policy
    7. PUBP 4416 Critical Issues in Science & Technology
    8. PUBP 4756 Technology Forecasting
    9. PUBP 6402 Research Policy & Management
    10. PUBP 6415 Technology, Regions, & Policy
    11. PUBP 6417 Critical Perspectives on Science & Tech
    12. PUBP 6421 Large-Scale Sociotechnical Systems
    13. PUBP 6501 Information Policy & Management
    14. PUBP 6740 Innovation & the State
    15. PUBP 6741 Geography of Innovation
    16. PUBP 6753 Comparative Science & Technology Policy
    17. PUBP 6777 Analysis of Emerging Technologies
  3. SOCIAL AND URBAN POLICY CLUSTER
    1. PUBP 3201 Introduction to Social Policy
    2. PUBP 3214 African American Politics
    3. PUBP 4200 Social Policy Issues
    4. PUBP 4211 Urban Policy
    5. PUBP 4212 Women & Public Policy
    6. PUBP 4214 Gender, Science, Tech, & Public Policy
    7. PUBP 6604 Urban Policy Analysis & Planning
    8. PUBP 6606 Urban Development Policy
  4. PHILOSOPHY CLUSTER
    1. PST 3127 Science, Technology, & Human Values
    2. PST 1101 Philosophical Analysis
    3. PST 2050 Philosophy & Political Theory (PST 3xxx)
    4. PST 3102 History of Ancient Philosophy
    5. PST 3103 Modern Philosophy
    6. PST 3105 Ethical Theories
    7. PST 3109 Ethics & Tech Profession
    8. PST 3113 Logic & Critical Thinking
    9. PST 3115 Philosophy of Science
    10. PST 3790 Introduction to Cognitive Science
    11. PST 4110 Theories of Knowledge
    12. PST 4112 Philosophy of Asian Thought
    13. PST 4174 Perspectives in Science & Technology
    14. PST 4176 Environmental Ethics
    15. PST 4752 Phil Issues in Computation
    16. PST 4790 Seminar in Cognitive Science
    17. PST 4791 Integrative Project in Cognitive Science
    18. PST 4792 Design Project in Cognitive Science
    19. PUBP 6010 Ethics, Epistemology, & Public Policy
  5. POLITICS AND POLICY CLUSTER
    1. POL 2101 State & Local Government
    2. PUBP 3000 US Constitutional Issues
    3. PUBP 3016 Judicial Process
    4. PUBP 3214 African-American Politics
    5. PUBP 3315 Environmental Policy & Politics
    6. PUBP 4120 Survey Research Methods
    7. PUBP 4226 Business & Government
    8. PUBP 4514 Mass Communications Policy
    9. PUBP 4951 Georgia Internship Program
    10. PUBP 4952 Legislative Intern Program

Elective Courses in the Major

In addition to the courses that students select that count toward the two policy clusters, students will select one additional course in policy as an elective.

Senior Seminar/Thesis

In their senior year, BSPP students will participate in a two-semester capstone Policy Task Force sequence (core course) in which students formulate, analyze, and recommend policy options working in teams. When the project is provided by an agency an outside evaluator will provide oversight and feedback to project teams and evaluate the final reports. Faculty will provide regular feedback and assessments of student and team performance. Each student will be responsible for a substantive project paper that will be presented and defended before the group, the instructor, and the outside evaluator and then will be integrated into a team report.

Mathematics

Previous coursework in calculus is assumed in the core statistics course for majors as well as in economics courses in public policy. To prepare, students are advised to fulfill the mathematics requirement by taking MATH 1501-2, MATH 1711-12 , or MATH 1711 with either 1501 or 1502, will also satisfy the requirement. Students cannot receive credit for both MATH 1712 and MATH 1501 or 1502.

Science and Engineering

Public policy majors must take two laboratory science courses and two additional courses in science- or engineering-related fields. These courses must be chosen in consultation with the student's advisor.

Social Sciences

The 12 hour social sciences requirement may be satisfied by courses in history, economics, international affairs, political science, public policy, sociology, and selected courses in psychology. Public policy majors must take one of the following: HIST 2111, HIST 2112, POL 1101, or PUBP 3000 (to satisfy state requirements regarding coursework on the history and constitutions of the United States and Georgia). Public policy majors are strongly urged to take POL 1101 or PUBP 3000. POL 1101 can be counted both as a designated course for the degree and as a social science requirement. Courses must be chosen in consultation with the student's advisor.

Humanities and Fine Arts

Students are required to complete ENGL 1101-2 and an additional 6 hours in the humanities and fine arts. Additional courses may be chosen from the list of approved humanities courses in this catalog. Public policy majors may not count PST courses for both their degree requirements and the humanities and fine arts requirements.

Free Electives

To graduate, each student must have accumulated at least 120 semester hours of credit toward the Bachelor of Science in Public Policy degree. Therefore, in addition to the requirements listed previously, the student must take a sufficient number of elective courses either within or outside public policy to reach 120 hours. Typically, this will allow the student approximately seventeen hours of free electives.