Thanks to a $500,000 grant from Ascendium Education Group, UW–Madison’s La Follette School of Public Affairs is one step closer to meeting the high demand for public policy education while preparing more students than ever for careers in public service.
Through La Follette’s two certificate programs, undergraduate students can apply a policy perspective to their major course of study or specialize in health policy. Graduate students can also combine public policy with other areas of focus.
The school was recently ranked in the top 10% of public affairs schools in the country by U.S. News and World Report and is the highest-ranked public affairs school with fewer than 200 graduate students.
To enable even more students to apply policy education to their public service interests, La Follette plans to launch UW’s first undergraduate major in public policy as early as fall 2025.
Ascendium’s grant will help La Follette develop the new major and work toward its goals to:
-
Create high-impact classroom experiences;
-
Scale up its course design, programming, and student support, including advising and financial aid;
-
Provide financial support for undergraduate internships;
-
Develop its employer pipeline for future experiential learning opportunities; and
-
Explore options for a new home on UW–Madison’s campus.
