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Studies & Degrees in Social Policy

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Are you a student with a strong interest in Social Policy and how social policy issues are made shaped and influenced at local, state, national and global levels?  Do you want to better understand the various world views, assumptions and philosophies underlying social policy solutions?  If so, you may want to consider pursuing a Master of Science Degree in Social Policy.
 
Master of Science Degree in Social Policy:  Course Overview and Details
 
The Master of Science degree in Social Policy is a graduate level program offered by most major colleges and universities throughout the world.  The program, which typically spans eighteen months to two years in duration, is designed to prepare students to assume policy leadership positions in government, philanthropic organizations, research institutes, non-profit and non –governmental organizations, and others related settings.
 
Students enrolled in the Master of Science Degree program in Social Policy will study the factors that underlie social policy decisions, such as political ideology, religious views and morality.  Through coursework and practical applications they will acquire information as to how social policies decisions are made at each level of government and learn to formulate a social agenda that is evidenced-based and aims to improve the equity, effectiveness and efficiency of policy creation and implementation.  The program is great for those who have recently earned a bachelor’s degree in one of the social sciences and perfect for mid-level professionals working in a wide variety of organizational settings.
 
Master of Science Degree in Social Policy:  Coursework
 
The coursework for the Master of Science degree program in Social Policy may vary slightly from one institution to the next, but it typically contains course titles such as:
 
  • Issues, Strategies and Processes in Social Policy.  In this class students will learn that analyzing social policy requires a broad understanding of social problems and issues and the processes by which policy is developed and implemented.
  • Research and Evaluation Design.  This course introduces social research methods in the context of social policy and program evaluation.
  • Quantitative ReasoningQuantitative Reasoning is a course designed specifically to provide students with a broad range of quantitative methods and applications. The course enables to students to gain a conceptual understanding of inferential statistics including probability theory, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing.
  • Social Policy and the Courts.  This course takes an in depth look at policy making in the United States, particularly the social policy that is set and evaluated by the judicial branch of government.
  • Economic and Financial Foundations for Social Policy.  This class enables students to test and develop their capacity for applying conceptual tools and analytical methods to sometimes messy and always complicated, real-life situations.
  • Capstone Research Project.  In the Capstone Research Project students will work as a team to evaluate real-world social policy and present their findings to the faculty.
 
To qualify for admission into the Master of Science Degree Program in Social Policy students must possess, at minimum, a bachelor degree, preferably in one of the social sciences (political science, sociology, etc.), with a 2.5 grade point average (GPA) in all required coursework.  In most cases, students in the U.S. will also need to earn a combined score of 1000 or better on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) prior to being considered for admission.