Dual-Degree Programs

For leaders who show high promise to act with determination, judgment and integrity in increasingly responsible positions in sectors that influence public policy, the JD/MPP program allows students to earn both degrees in four, rather than five years. Educated at both the Batten School and UVA’s School of Law, the lawyer and public policy leader will take uncommon analytical skills and practical knowledge into every sector, from government to business and industry to the nonprofit sector.

The JD/MPP program is particularly demanding, and unless a student is clearly able to see the applicability of both degrees to future career plans, he or she should not assume that the chance to squeeze one year from a normal five-year sequence is in itself a persuasive rationale for this undertaking.

Financial aid will be provided by the school to which the student is paying tuition during each semester. Financial aid is not guaranteed and is subject to individual school and University availability and regulations.

Special admissions considerations: No students will be admitted to the dual program after fully completing the first year of Batten or the second year of Law.

The program takes four years to complete. In brief, it consists of the complete first year program of each school followed by two years of courses taken from the curricula of the two schools and, in appropriate cases, from other graduate offerings at the University.

Students who have been admitted to the program may elect whether they want to start in the School of Law or the Batten School, and in any event, they must spend their first year in full-time residence in either the Batten School or the School of Law. The second year is spent in the other school, again in full-time residence, in effect, as regular first year students. During the third and fourth years, students must complete the required curricula of both schools. Students may not earn Law School course credit for the public policy internship that is required by the Batten School at the conclusion of the first year of the program.

At the conclusion of the fourth year, students who have earned a minimum of 74 credits in the School of Law and a minimum of 37 credits in the Batten School will be awarded the MPP and JD degrees. The JD/MPP candidate is obligated to take, as part of these credits, all of the required curriculum in both graduate public policy and law. The remaining credits will be elective credits and can be chosen from the respective public policy and law curricula after consultation with the program committee. Under no circumstances will a dual degree student be permitted to complete the program in fewer than four years (eight semesters) of coursework.

In the first two years of the combined JD/MPP program, while enrolled exclusively in either the School of Law or the Batten School, students are required to meet the grading standards of the school in which they are enrolled. In the final two years, when taking classes in both schools, students are required to meet the session and cumulative grading standards of each school independently to remain in good standing.

The UVA Darden School of Business and Batten School offer a dual degree program that leads to the completion of the MBA and MPP degrees in three years, instead of the four that would be required if each were taken separately.

The MBA/MPP program is particularly demanding, and unless the students is clearly able to see the applicability of both degrees to future career plans, he or she should not assume that the chance to squeeze one year from a normal four-year sequence is in itself a persuasive rationale for this undertaking.

Financial aid will be provided by the school to which the student is paying tuition during each semester. Financial aid is not guaranteed and is subject to individual school and University availability and regulations.

The program takes three years to complete. In brief, it consists of the complete first year program of each school followed by one year of courses taken from the curricula of the two schools and, in appropriate cases, from other graduate offerings at the University. A student who has been admitted to the program will ordinarily be allowed to elect whether to start in the Batten School or in the Darden School. The student will then spend the second year in the program as a regular first year student in the other school.

At the conclusion of the third year, students who have earned a minimum of 52.5 credits in the Darden School and a minimum of 40 credits in the Batten School will be awarded both the MBA/MPP degrees. The MBA/MPP candidate is obligated to take, as part of these credits, all of the required curriculum in both graduate public policy and business administration. The remaining credits will be elective credits and can be chosen from the respective public policy and business administration curricula after consultation with the program committee. Under no circumstances will a dual degree student be permitted to complete the program in fewer than three years (six semesters) of coursework.

In the first two years of the combined MBA/MPP program, while enrolled exclusively in either the Darden or the Batten School, students are required to meet the grading standards of the school in which they are enrolled. In the final year, when taking classes in both schools, students are required to meet the session and cumulative grading standards of each school independently to remain in good standing.

The University of Virginia School of Education and Human Development and Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy offer a dual degree program that leads to the completion of a PhD/MPP degrees in five to six years. There are a number of complementarities between the Education School’s PhD program and Batten’s Master of Public Policy program. They both seek high quality students with a commitment to improving policy outcomes, and there is extensive overlap in the coursework in both programs. The goal of a dual PhD/MPP program is to leverage the comparative advantage of both schools toward these mutual interests.

The PhD/MPP program is particularly demanding, and unless the student is clearly able to see the applicability of both degrees to future career plans, he or she should not assume that the chance to complete both degrees on a shortened timeframe is in itself a persuasive rationale for this undertaking.

Financial aid is available and will be coordinated by the two schools. Financial aid is not guaranteed and is subject to individual school and University availability and regulations.

Unique to the PhD/MPP, and unlike Batten’s other dual-degree programs, at the conclusion of the two years of study primarily in the Batten School, students will receive their MPP degree. At the conclusion of the fifth or sixth year of the program, students who have completed at least 72 credits in the EducationSchool will receive the PhD in Education degree. The MPP/PhD candidate is obligated to take, as part of these credits, all of the required curriculum in both graduate public policy and education. The remaining credits will be elective credits and can be chosen from the respective public policy and education curricula after consultation with the program committee.

Students are required to meet the session and cumulative grading standards of each school independently to remain in good standing.

The University of Virginia’s School of Medicine’s Department of Public Health Sciences, and the Batten School offer a dual degree program that leads to the completion of the MPH and MPP degrees in three years instead of the four years that would be required if each degree were pursued independently.

The MPP-MPH program is particularly demanding, and unless the student is clearly able to see the applicability of both degrees to future career plans, he or she should not assume that the chance to squeeze one year from a normal four-year sequence is in itself a persuasive rationale for this undertaking.

Financial aid will be provided by the school to which the student is paying tuition during each semester. Financial aid is not guaranteed and is subject to individual school and University availability and regulations.

The program takes three years to complete. In brief, it consists of the complete first year program of each school followed by one year of courses taken from the curricula of the two schools and, in appropriate cases, from other graduate offerings at the University. A student who has been admitted to the program will ordinarily be allowed to elect whether to start in the Batten School or in the School of Medicine. The student will then spend the second year in the program as a regular first year student in the other school.

At the conclusion of the third year, students who have earned a minimum of 42 credits in the School of Medicine and a minimum of 40 credits in the Batten School will be awarded both the MPH and MPP degrees. The MPH/MPP candidate is obligated, as part of these credits, to take all of the required curriculum in both graduate public policy and public health. A maximum of two courses (six credits) can be counted toward both degrees. The remaining credits will be elective credits and can be chosen from the respective public policy and public health curricula after consultation with the program committee. In no circumstances will a dual degree student be permitted to complete the program in fewer than three years (six semesters) of coursework.

In the first two years of the combined MPH/MPP program, while enrolled exclusively in either program, students are required to meet the grading standards of the school in which they are enrolled. In the final year, when taking classes in both schools, students are required to meet the session and cumulative grading standards of each school independently to remain in good standing.

The University of Virginia School of Architecture and the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy offer a dual degree program which leads to the completion of the MUEP and MPP degrees in three years instead of the four years that would be required if each degree were pursued independently. The program is administered by faculty advisors from the School of Architecture and Batten School.

The program takes three years to complete. In brief, it consists of the complete first year program of each school followed by one year of courses taken from the curricula of the two schools and, in appropriate cases, from other graduate offerings at the University. A student who has been admitted to the program will ordinarily be allowed to elect whether to start in the Batten School or in the School of Architecture. The student will then spend the second year in the program as a regular first year student in the other school.  Up to 20 credits of MPP courses can apply to the MUEP and up to 12 credits of MUEP courses can count toward the MPP.

At the conclusion of the third year, students who have earned a minimum of 73 credit hours of combined coursework from each school will be awarded the MPP and MUEP degrees. The MPP-MUEP candidate is obligated to take, as part of these credits, all of the required curriculum in both graduate public policy and architecture. The remaining credits will be elective credits and can be chosen from the respective public policy and architecture curricula after consultation with the program committee.

In the first two years of the combined MUEP/MPP program, while enrolled exclusively in either program, students are required to meet the grading standards of the school in which they are enrolled. In the final year, when taking classes in both schools, students are required to meet the session and cumulative grading standards of each school independently to remain in good standing.

The MPP/MSDS Combination Degree Program (Program) is designed to accommodate the interests of students who desire to gain expertise and work in the fields of data science and public policy. Students will combine hands-on policy experience and a foundation in the concepts of leadership with computer programming, data wrangling, analytics, and data science skills to maximize career potential across sectors.

The Combination MPP/MSDS Program (Program) is designed to take two years to complete. During the Program, students complete the core coursework for both degree programs and, as appropriate, may opt to complete electives from other graduate offerings at the University. In Year 1, students are enrolled in the School of Data Science. Students then complete a summer internship that satisfies both programs’ requirements. In Year 2, students are enrolled at UVA Batten for Fall and Spring semesters and complete their Batten Applied Policy Project during the summer semester.

The student is required to meet the grading standards of both schools independently to remain in good academic standing. Each school retains the right to suspend a student or to require a student to withdraw from its degree program if the student fails to maintain good academic standing as defined by its policies. Any issues that arise in translation of different grading scales resulting from the combination degree program will be addressed and resolved by the Program Committee. Grades will be recorded on the student’s transcript under the system in effect at the school in which the course is taken.