BUILDING LEADERS, SHAPING FUTURES
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UVA Batten
Where policy meets leadership and ideas become impact. At the University of Virginia’s Batten School, you’ll combine policy analysis and leadership training to drive real-world change and build a meaningful career.
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Shaping the Future of Policy
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Events & Opportunities
Join Us at an Upcoming
UVA Batten Event
11:30am – 12:30pm
Join the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy on Monday, September 14th at 11:30am in the Great Hall for a special Constitution Day Celebration. This talk sets aside the Constitution's text to consider it as a record — asking what archival science can teach us about evidence, authenticity, and custody, and why those questions matter far beyond this one document. It closes by extending that stewardship lens to today's emerging challenges, from federal records infrastructure to AI-generated documents, framing the choice to maintain custody of records as a leadership imperative for those who will hold institutional authority.
12 – 1pm
Room: See Event Details for More Info
5:15 – 6:15pm
Join UVA Batten alumna Caitlin Frazer (’10 MPP), Executive Director of the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, for a reception and conversation exploring leadership and policymaking at the intersection of emerging technology, national security, and economic competitiveness.Frazer has built a career at the center of consequential policy decisions, advising Congress through her current leadership of the Commission and previously serving in senior policy roles in the U.S. Senate, House of Representatives, and Department of State. Drawing on those experiences, she will share insights into how emerging issues move onto the national policy agenda, how leaders navigate complex and rapidly evolving policy environments, and what it takes to translate expertise into actionable recommendations for policymakers.The program will begin with a brief presentation and conversation with Frazer, followed by a reception and informal networking. Students will have an opportunity to explore both the substance of emerging biotechnology policy and the leadership, judgment, and career experiences behind policymaking at the highest levels of government.
Integrating Leadership & Public Policy
The Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy is designing a new model of public policy education – one that infuses leadership with policy, and policy with leadership. Our programs are defined by a multidisciplinary approach to problem-solving, rigorous quantitative and qualitative analytical training, experiential learning opportunities, and evidence-based decision-making.
World-Class Teaching & Research
Our community is defined not only by academic rigor, but also real-world experience, teaching, and mentoring. This approach has attracted a multidisciplinary faculty of leading scholar-practitioners in political science, social psychology, public administration, history, economics, and law from around the globe. Our research centers and policy labs are hubs for collaboration and impact.
Excellence with Humanity
At home in one of the world’s great public universities, we are passionate about improving lives and solving humanity’s toughest policy challenges. We seek to attract a community as diverse in thought, experience, background, and aspiration as the world we want to serve, and to bring them together in an intellectually courageous and collaborative environment. We are advancing new knowledge, new skills, and new solutions, cultivating leaders for our common future.
We offer a variety of graduate and undergraduate programs.
For students interested in graduate studies, we offer a two-year Master of Public Policy program, plus six options to combine the MPP with other degrees at the University of Virginia. For those interested in a hybrid program based in Northern Virginia, we offer the Master of Science in Public Policy and Data that can be completed in as little as twelve months. Additionally, for the most flexibility, we offer two graduate certificates – one in Public Leadership and one in Public Policy – that can be taken online or in Charlottesville.
Undergraduate opportunities for current UVA (and prospective UVA undergraduate transfer) students may pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy and Leadership, a Minor in Public Policy and Leadership, a Minor in Social Entrepreneurship, and an Accelerated MPP, which allows students to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees in just one additional year of study.
Our programs prepare students for a wide variety of policy-oriented careers in the public, non-profit, and private sectors. The Batten School offers its own career advancement team that supports students from landing a summer internship and full-time position, to making career changes long after graduation. They help with resumes, interviews, and networking, among other things.
Example employers include congressional committees, federal agencies (e.g., EPA, GAO, CBO, CRS, FTC, CDC), cabinet departments, various state and local government agencies, the World Bank, consulting firms (e.g., Deloitte, McKinsey, Accenture), and non-profits and NGOs in many policy sectors, such as environmental, health, education, and international development policy.
The Master of Public Policy (MPP) is a full-time, Charlottesville residential, two-year program. New students enter the fall of each academic year.
The Master of Science in Public Policy and Data (MSPP&D) is a primarily online program offered in both part-time and full-time formats. Coursework is asynchronous, with approximately one hour of synchronous engagement each week, supplemented by brief in-person experiences at the UVA in Northern Virginia campus for orientation at the beginning of the program and the culminating capstone. Full-time students complete the degree in 12 months and may begin in either the fall or spring semester. Students must complete 31 credits.
The Accelerated MPP program begins in the fall of each academic year and takes place over the course of your final undergraduate year at the University plus one additional year as a full-time graduate student. It cannot be expedited further or taken part-time.
Batten’s Graduate Certificate programs are offered both part-time and full-time, online or in-person, and can be started in the fall or spring semesters. Students must complete 12 credits for each certificate, and students can take one to four classes a semester.