- Program length: 2 Years
- Students with an undergraduate degree by the time of matriculation
Round 1: November 14, 2026
Round 2: January 16, 2027
Round 3: rolling until class is filled
- Jeff ChidesterManaging Director of Business Development & Admissions
Where Policy Meets Leadership
The UVA Batten School Master of Public Policy (MPP) degree consists of an innovative, interdisciplinary approach to public policy and leadership education, equipping graduates with the skills, experience, and professional network needed to drive meaningful impact in government, nonprofit, and private sectors. Batten MPP students don’t just study policy, they build it.
In the MPP program, you will:
- Gain a strong, lasting foundation in the concepts, methods, and strategies of policy analysis with a curriculum built for real-world impact
- Examine how effective leadership works, why context shapes decision-making, and which strategies produce measurable results
- Develop the analytical and leadership capabilities to deliver tangible solutions through rigorous cost-benefit analysis, data-driven decision-making, and hands-on policy experience
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Join a thriving alumni network of public policy professionals, dedicated to collaboratively addressing the most complex and consequential policy issues of our time.
Solve Real Problems for Real Clients
The capstone experience of the UVA Batten MPP is the Applied Policy Project, where students produce a professional-grade policy report for an actual client organization. This immersive, high-stakes project bridges academic rigor with professional practice — and for many graduates, it serves as a direct pathway to post-graduation employment opportunities in public policy.
The Master of Public Policy is a two-year, full-time graduate program. Students must complete 49 credits, as well as a 400-hour, policy-based summer internship between the first and second year.
11 three-credit core courses:
- 4 analytics courses
- 3 leadership courses
- 3 experiential courses
- 1 context course
A one-credit Foundation Skills Workshop
15 elective credits, including:
- Three-credit electives
- Two-credit policy clinics
- One-credit short courses
All elective credits can be taken at UVA Batten and across the university, pending approval from Batten’s Director of Academic Program.
The capstone of the program is an Applied Policy Project in which students perform a professional-quality study for a real-world client under faculty supervision.
In order to apply to the UVA Batten Master in Public Policy, you will be required to submit the following materials by 11:59 p.m. ET on the date of the official deadline:
- Resume or Curriculum Vitae (as either a Word Document or a PDF)
- Two Required Essays
- What is the motivation behind your decision to pursue public policy and leadership? Please indicate your interest in addressing one or more policy areas or societal issues. What work, activity, or educational experiences have best equipped you for graduate studies in this field? (Please limit your answer to 500 words.)
- One of our aims is to enhance students’ abilities to lead in a diverse and divided world. Tell us about a time you had to work across lines of difference to navigate a challenge or improve some outcome. What did you learn from the experience? How can those lessons inform your future success, especially professionally? (Please limit your answer to 250 words.)
- Two Recommendations
- Recommendations for the MPP will be submitted using a form evaluating your candidacy along a set of criteria addressing your potential for success in the program. If your recommender has prepared a traditional letter of recommendation, they will have the option to include it. There will be more instructions regarding letters of recommendation within the application itself.
- Unofficial Transcripts
- Unofficial transcripts may be uploaded directly to your online application. Should you gain acceptance to the MPP program, a required official transcript will be requested at that time.
- Optional Test Scores
- The Batten School has removed the standardized test requirement. If you have already taken the GRE (or, for dual degree applicants, the GMAT or LSAT), you are welcome to submit your scores if you believe they provide another useful data point for your application. Please direct your unofficial scores to BattenAdmissions@virginia.edu, and we will attach it to your application.
- Optional Application Addendum
- There is no penalty for not submitting an application addendum. However, some applicants may wish to provide additional information to the admissions committee. Feel free to amplify the positive dimensions of your background that are not covered in other parts of this application. Similarly, you may wish to put some seemingly negative information in your application into context. Please format this application addendum as a letter to the admissions committee, not to exceed one page.
Your application may be completed online and submitted electronically once you have answered all the required questions. You do not have to complete the online application in one sitting – you may access your application and change your answers as many times as you like.
A detailed walkthrough of the MPP application can be found here.
What Our Alumni Are Saying
