Kennedy School of Government

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Image:Harvard shield-Government.png The John F. Kennedy School of Government is one of the graduate schools of Harvard University. It offers degrees in public policy and public administration, and conducts research in various subjects relating to politics and government. Its primary buildings are located southeast of Harvard Yard by the Charles River in Harvard Square, on the site of a former Red Line trainyard.

Image:Taubman Building, John F. Kennedy School of Government.jpg

The Kennedy School was originally Harvard's Graduate School of Public Administration, which had been founded in 1936 with a gift from Lucius N. Littauer, and drew its faculty from the existing government and economics departments. In the 1960s, with encouragement from Richard Neustadt, the school expanded to research in public policy, brought in more economics and analytic work to what had been more of a management study, and established a two-year "Master in Public Policy Program".

Also in the 1960s, the Institute of Politics (IOP) was established as a memorial to John F. Kennedy.

The various programs were brought together in a single school in 1978.

As of 2003, the school has over 100 faculty and over 800 students. The schools major degree programs are a two-year Master of Public Policy (MPP) program, which focuses on policy analysis and design, and a Master of Public Administration (MPA) program, similar to an MBA. The MPA is available in two forms: a one-year "mid-career program" intended for professionals between 7 and 15 years after college graduation and a two-year MPA program intended for recent graduates. Also, the Kennedy school offers many joint degrees and specialized degrees, as well as some PhDs.

The Kennedy School has received high rankings in U.S News and World Report's list of top Graduate Schools of public administration, and ranks second to only the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

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