Programs of Study

A hallmark of the Maxwell School is the breadth and diversity of its programming. No other graduate school of public affairs combines these components:

Master’s degrees for future professionals in public administration and international relations. Maxwell’s M.P.A. was the first of its kind in the nation and is top-ranked by U.S. News & World Report’s Best Graduate Schools survey. The international relations program is now held in similar regard, having grown and developed quickly over its nearly 20 years of existence. It draws on many of the same faculty members and resources as the M.P.A., while also utilizing Maxwell’s social science faculty, including that of the School’s highly regarded political science and economics departments.

Note, too, that customized versions of Maxwell’s professional degree programs are made available to midcareer, international, and other specialized audiences, via the Executive Education programs.

Learn more at Professional Programs.

Master’s and doctoral degrees in the social sciences. Specifically, Maxwell offers graduate degrees in these social-science disciplines: anthropology, economics, geography, history, political science, social science, and sociology. The public administration department offers a Ph.D., as well. Many of these departments are among the most esteemed at Syracuse University, and are well-known nationally and internationally.

Learn more at Social Science Departments.

Undergraduate instruction in the social science disciplines. These include anthropology, economics, geography, international relations, history, political science, public affairs, and sociology. Undergraduates receive instruction from many of the same professors who teach Maxwell’s highly regarded graduate curriculum. Undergraduate degrees in these disciplines are awarded through Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences, as part of the larger liberal-arts experience.

Outside of any department or major, undergraduate coursework is also provided in citizenship and public issues, via the innovative, interdisciplinary MAX Courses—a descendent of Maxwell’s seminal “citizenship literacy” curriculum of the 1930s-60s.

Learn more at Undergraduate Programs.

Research Centers and Institutes. Research occurs both within the departments and within Maxwell’s many interdisciplinary research centers and institutes, where professional-degree and social-science scholars work side-by-side in such topical arenas as social-policy development and budgeting; global affairs; environmental policy; citizenship; national security and counterterrorism; conflict resolution and collaborative management; technology and information policy; and the nexus of judiciary, politics, and media.

Learn more at Centers & Institutes.