Detailed curriculum information can be found in the 'Programme structure and courses' section of the MPA-DSPP admissions pages.
Preparation before your arrival
Prior to your arrival at LSE you will receive details about optional readings and online learning materials which are designed to help you to prepare for the programme.
MPA-DSPP Introduction and Programming Bootcamp (on campus from late August)
Prior to the start of the Michaelmas Term in September, you will need to attend a four week introductory programming bootcamp from late August.
First year
The first year consists of four compulsory courses:
Micro and Macro Economics for Public Policy
You will learn macro- and micro- economic concepts, models and methods suitable for appraising policy, applicable in a wide variety of contexts. This includes the study of demand and supply, the labour market, public goods, market failure, inflation and monetary policy, fiscal policy and debt, and exchange rates.
Political Science and Public Policy
You will learn concepts and models for understanding the behaviour of political actors and why they lead to particular outcomes. This includes the study of voting, political parties, interest groups, legislative politics, corruption, democratisation and ethnic conflict. These tools are essential for designing policy interventions to achieve desired future outcomes.
Quantitative Approaches and Policy Analysis
You will learn skills for the quantitative evaluation of public policies, such as causal relationships; randomised control trials; difference-in-difference estimation; instrumental variables; regression discontinuity designs and cost-benefit analysis.
Data Science for Public Policy You will learn key technical skills and tools in data gathering, management and visualization as well as the main types of (non-causal) predictive models in Machine Learning, Deep Learning and Artificial Intelligence and related concepts with an emphasis on implications and applications for public life.
These provide a rigorous, holistic foundation to students in their second year and beyond.
Second year
In the second year, students will take two compulsory courses:
The MPA-DSPP Capstone class, where students bring together their core skills to solve a real policy problem.
Technology, Data Science and Policy*
This compulsory half unit course presents a comparative and historically informed perspective on policy issues in technology, data science, and emerging technologies. The course has a non-technical, interdisciplinary approach that considers policy issues from the point of view of governance, security, ethics, and the law.
Option Courses (electives)
In addition, you will also take 2.5 units of option courses (electives) to focus your studies in particular technical or non-technical areas in policy or data science. These electives may be chosen from a wide range available in the School of Public Policy or (with permission and subject to availability) from elsewhere in LSE, especially the Statistics, Methodology and Mathematics departments.