The Andrew Young School of Policy Studies (AYSPS) is a school of public policy and one of 12 schools and colleges that constitute

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is al ...

. Founded in 1996 as the Georgia State University Policy School, the school was named after civil rights leader

Andrew Young Andrew Jackson Young Jr. (born March 12, 1932) is an American politician, diplomat, and activist. Beginning his career as a pastor, Young was an early leader in the civil rights movement, serving as executive director of the Southern Christia ...

in 1999. AYSPS houses the Departments of

Criminal Justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

Criminology Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

, and

Public Management Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

Policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an or ...

, the School of

Social Work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

, and the

Urban Studies Urban studies is based on the study of the urban development of cities and regions—it makes up the theory portion of the field of urban planning. This includes studying the history of city development from an architectural point of view, to th ...

Institute. The school offers

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

, and

doctoral A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

degrees, and graduate certificate programs. It houses six research centers, including the Georgia Health Policy Center, the Georgia Policy Labs, and the Experimental Economics Center, and the Public Finance Research Cluster, which consists of the Center for State and Local Finance, the Fiscal Research Center, and the International Center for Public Policy. Based in downtown Atlanta, AYSPS enrolls on average 1,490 undergraduate students and 540 graduate students each year. Community internships and job opportunities are a major draw for enrollment, as the school is within walking distance of one of the nation’s largest concentrations of local, state and federal governments and also close to several nonprofit headquarters, such as

Care USA CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere, formerly Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe) is a major international humanitarian agency delivering emergency relief and long-term international development projects. Founded i ...

and

Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a U.S. non-governmental, and tax-exempt 501(C)(3) Christian nonprofit organization which seeks to build affordable housing. The international ...

History and Culture

The beginnings of the Andrew Young School were in the establishment of a Master of Governmental Administration degree in 1972. This would later evolve into a Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) which was offered originally though the Institute of Governmental Administration. After shuffling around throughout the decades, the Georgia State Policy School was established in 1996. Three years later in 1999, The Policy School was renamed the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. The name pays respects to

, a civil rights leader from

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

who served as

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Ambassador from 1977–79, as mayor of Atlanta from 1982–90, and was instrumental in bringing the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

to the city in 1996. His leadership and Georgia State University's status as one of the most diverse student bodies in the nation allow Andrew Young School's programs to be inclusive and make a global impact. Roughly one-fifth of graduate students come from developing countries, 59 percent of students are women and nearly one-half are African Americans.

Rankings

'' U.S. News & World Report''s 2024 Best Graduate Schools Public Affairs list ranks the Andrew Young School No. 16 overall: No. 3 in Urban Policy, No. 5 in Public Finance & Budgeting, No. 6 in Nonprofit Management, No. 9 in Local Government Management, No. 14 in Public Management & Leadership and No. 26 in Public Policy Analysis. Criminology ranks No. 18, the School of Social Work ranks No. 51 and Economics ranks No. 65.

Departments

Andrew Young School of Policy Studies includes five academic departments: *The Department of

* The Department of

and

* The School of

*The

Institute

Degree Programs

A major pillar of the philosophy of the Andrew Young School is the belief that economics, public administration and social policy should not be separated. The result is an approach to policy studies that is multidisciplinary, evident in the numerous interdisciplinary degrees offered and partnerships in research with other departments throughout Georgia State University. Notably, a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics was established in Fall of 2017, based on a deep historical connection of the disciplines and using analytically rigorous tools to prepare students for careers in law, economics, and business. The Andrew Young School also offers a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Economics in partnership with the J. Mack Robinson College of Business, and various other interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Undergraduate Degree Programs

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(B.A.) in

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

(B.S.) in

Bachelor of Business Administration A Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is an undergraduate degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of four years and typically 120 credits of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of busine ...

(B.B.A.) in Economics *

Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies A Bachelor of Independent Studies is an undergraduate academic degree. Its program of studies is unique to each student, and the individual curricula are largely determined by each student. It may focus in any field, and generally has two phases: ...

(B.I.S.) in

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

Politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

, and

(B.S.) in

(B.A.) in

International Economics International economics is concerned with the effects upon economic activity from international differences in productive resources and consumer preferences and the international institutions that affect them. It seeks to explain the patterns an ...

Modern Languages A modern language is any human language that is currently in use as a native language. The term is used in language education to distinguish between languages which are used for day-to-day communication (such as French and German) and dead clas ...

(B.I.S.) in

Social Entrepreneurship Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, Startup company, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to ...

(B.S.) in

Public Policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...

(B.A.) in

Graduate Degree Programs

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

(M.A.) in

- Public Policy Track *

Master of Public Administration A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the ...

(M.P.A.) *

(M.P.A.) /

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

(J.D.) *

Master of Public Policy The Master of Public Policy (MPP) is a graduate-level professional degree. It provides training in policy analysis and program evaluation at public policy schools. The MPP program places a focus on the systematic analysis of issues related to pu ...

(M.P.P.) in Policy Studies *

Master of Social Work The Master of Social Work (MSW) is a master's degree in the field of social work. It is a professional degree with specializations compared to Bachelor of Social Work (BSW). MSW promotes macro-, mezzo- and micro-aspects of professional social work ...

(M.S.W.) in

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

(M.S.) in

* Master of Interdisciplinary Studies (M.I.S.) i
Criminal Justice Administration
* Master of Interdisciplinary Studies (M.I.S.) in

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...

Masters International Program

Doctoral Degree Programs

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

(Ph.D.) in

and

(Ph.D.) in

with the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public university, public research university and Institute of technology (United States), institute of technology in Atlanta, ...

(Ph.D.) in

Graduate Certificate programs

* Nonprofit Management * Planning and Economic Development

Research Centers and Programs

The Andrew Young School has an international presence in its research efforts with more than 135 faculty having worked in more than 70 countries worldwide. This translates to more than 230 scholarly papers, journal articles, chapters and books published annually and more than $26 million in active sponsored grants in the 2019 fiscal year. The school runs ten research centers and conducts numerous research collaborations within

, born of the Andrew Young School's interdisciplinary approach to research and education.

Research Centers

* Public Finance Research Group **Center for State and Local Finance **Fiscal Research Center **International Center for Public Policy * Evidence-based Cybersecurity Research Center * Experimental Economics Center (ExCEN) * Georgia Health Policy Center * Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange * Georgia Policy Labs **MAPLE (Metro Atlanta Policy Lab for Education) **Child & Family Policy Lab **CTEx (Career and Technical Education Policy Exchange) * Nonprofit Studies Program * Usery Workplace Research Group

Interdisciplinary Research Collaborations

* Second Century Initiative with College of Education and Human Development * Future of Cities Research Institute with School of Public Health * Global Research Against Non-Commutable Disease (GRAND) Initiative with School of Public Health and College of Arts and Sciences * Cyber Security and Public Policy with Robinson College of Business and College of Arts and Sciences * The Center for the Quantitative and Statistical Sciences (QUEST) with School of Public Health, College of Education and Human Development, College of Arts and Sciences, Robinson College of Business, Lewis College of Nursing and Health Professions, Institute for Biomedical Sciences, Global Studies Institute * Intimate Partner Violence Initiative with Department of Psychology and School of Public Health * Population Health and Precision Medicine with Institute for Biomedical Science, the Department of Biology, the School of Public Health and the College of Law’s Center for Law, Health and Society

References

External links

* {{Authority control Georgia State University Pringle and Smith buildings