Office of Career Advancement
The OCA supports students and alumni seeking to develop rewarding professional careers.
Why Harvard Kennedy School?
Find out why Harvard Kennedy School provides a unique experience and education.
Home > Degree Programs > Doctoral Programs > PhD in Public Policy
PhD in Public Policy
The PhD in Public Policy prepares qualified candidates to shape the direction of public policy research and to train the next generation of researchers, teachers, and leaders. It also qualifies individuals to perform high-level policy analysis in both national and international organizations.
Students spend the first two years of their predoctoral studies at Harvard Kennedy School of Government and then transfer to the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) for a minimum of one year of residency.
The program offers a combination core requirements and concentrations in areas such as Environmental Policy, International Economic Policy, Science and Technology Policy, International Security Relations, Risk Assessment, Economic Regulatory Policy, International Development, and Judgment and Decision Making.
Recent recipients of the PhD in Public Policy degree have taken academic positions at Yale University, Penn State University, Columbia University, New York University, University of California San Diego, Duke University, Tufts University, and Dartmouth College. Other recent graduates have accepted policy and analyst positions with the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the United Nations Development Programme, NGOs, and in the private sector.
Doctoral Candidates in Public Policy on the Job Market
There are currently nine doctoral candidates in Public Policy planning to graduate who are currently on the job market.
Public Policy Dissertation Archive
View a complete list of dissertations written from 1972 to the present by Public Policy students in the Public Policy Dissertations Archive.