"Law and public policy supplement each other. The M.P.A./J.D. program provides students with flexible training and an unbeatable set of skills to intervene where policy becomes law, and where law shapes policy. Students interested in environmental or economic regulation, human rights, global governance, trade, civil liberties, the war on terrorism, and other topics will find that combining a J.D. with an M.P.A. degree will expand their range of opportunities and broaden their horizons of understanding."

Kim Lane Scheppele
Faculty Chair of the M.P.A./J.D. Program;
Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Public Affairs at the
University Center for Human Values;
Director of the Program in Law and Public Affairs

Some students want to combine the study of public policy with the study of a related discipline. To accommodate these students, the Woodrow Wilson School also offers a joint degree program. In addition to the Master in Public Affairs/Juris Doctor, the School may also permit a limited number of candidates to pursue joint degrees in such disciplines as natural or applied sciences, business, environmental planning, and public health with the cooperation of other institutions or other Princeton departments outside the social sciences. Students interested in pursuing any of the joint degree options must submit in writing an academic rationale for the particular program proposed. Joint programs ordinarily shorten by two semesters the length of time it would take to complete the two degrees separately.

The four-year M.P.A./J.D. program recognizes that some students will find it useful to combine the study of law and the study of public affairs. The Woodrow Wilson School has formal joint degree arrangements with law schools at Columbia University, New York University, and Stanford University. In addition, students have arranged joint degrees with law schools at the following universities: University of California, Berkeley (Boalt Hall), Chicago, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Michigan, North Carolina, Northwestern, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Yale University. Some students also complete a concurrent degree in five years with Harvard Law School.

Participating students spend five semesters at the cooperating law school and three semesters at the Woodrow Wilson School, thereby reducing by two semesters the time required to earn the two degrees. Enrollment in this joint program requires separate application and admission to each school, and the Woodrow Wilson School requires a separate essay setting forth the rationale for the J.D. joint degree as part of the School's application

Country Director,
Peace Corps,
Amman, Jordan

Alex Boston was attracted to the M.P.A. program at WWS because it offered rigorous academics along with opportunities for practical skill development and professional networking. Currently a country director with the Peace Corps working in Amman, Jordan, Alex chose to pursue a joint M.P.A./J.D. degree, combining public policy and law as an effective way to address issues related to social justices at both the domestic and international levels.

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