Drive, passion, and intellectual curiosity define the best MSCAPP candidates. You want to make the world better with data, technology, and whatever else is required to get it done. This is the case whether you are building on your politics, policy, or economics background, or looking to transition from a computer science or statistics role in industry into public policy. Show us that you have excelled in whatever you have done in the past, and we’ll be excited to have you join us.

Sometimes, this will be reflected in a strong undergraduate academic history and work (or volunteer) experience in policy, governance, or mission-driven organizations. Other times you’ll need to connect the dots for us – use your application essays to tell us a story about why you’re invested in the intersection of public policy, data and computer science. Further, demonstration of your quantitative prowess is a factor.

No, although many students come in with some background in economics, statistics, or computer science, no such degree is required. The explicit goal of this degree is to build a pipeline of technical talent into the public realm; therefore, we do not expect you to have these skills upon applying to or entering the degree.

If you are unsure about the quality of your application and want to strengthen it, consider taking (and excelling in) a mathematics or computer science course, especially in linear algebra or programming in Python. Additional work or volunteer experience in public policy, governance, and in mission-driven organizations will also strengthen your application. You might also consider getting involved (however you can – coding is not always required) in a project in your local data or tech community, like through Code For America or DataKind.

CAPP students take most of the core classes from the Master of Public Policy (MPP), although they do not take a second Political Economy course. Instead, they are required to take Program Evaluation. Further, CAPP students are required to take a five-part series in computer programming, databases, and machine learning. This five-course series is built into the first year of the CAPP degree, enabling students to take advanced electives in computer science, statistics, and econometrics in the second year. You can see more information on our curriculum page.

One of the great strengths of the MSCAPP degree is the wide range of electives available to students. By your second year, you will have taken a rigorous and thorough core of econometrics, statistics, and computer science, which enables you to take advanced courses in all of these fields. In addition to CAPP-specific electives like Data Visualization for Policy Analysis and Advanced Machine Learning for Public Policy, the graduate courses at Harris Public Policy, as well as many in the Masters Program in Computer Science and the Computer Science Department, are available.

Additionally, many CAPP students take courses in the Booth School of Business; Applied Data Science; the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice; the Department of Economics; the Department of Statistics; the Division of Social Sciences; the Law School; and the Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago.

A comprehensive list of elective courses that CAPP students have taken in recent academic years can be found here: Sample CAPP Student Electives

The MSCAPP degree is a joint program and thus has a home base in both the Department of Computer Science and the Harris School of Public Policy.

The Department of Computer Science resides in the John Crerar Library, the campus hub for computation and data science. Harris Public Policy is housed in the Keller Center, which is LEED-NC Platinum and Living Building Challenge™ Petal certified for Materials, Beauty, and Equity, making it one of the most sustainable buildings in higher education and the city of Chicago.

Common jobs chosen by MSCAPP graduates include roles as civic technologists, data scientists, machine learning engineers, software engineers, policy researchers and everything in between. Other alumni have gone on to become data visualization specialists, data team leaders, technical project managers, and more. 

There are many different types of organizations that are actively looking for (and currently struggling to find) highly technical talent with interest and exposure to public policy. Some examples include:

• Public Policy Research Organizations – This group includes think tanks like the Urban Institute and Pew Research Center, as well as policy research firms like Mathematica Policy Research, the American Institutes for Research, and the RAND Corporation.
• City and State Analytics Teams – Many cities are building their analytics capacity. CAPP students and graduates have interned and gone on to work on data teams in New York City, Minneapolis, Boston, Los Angeles, and the states of Illinois and Massachusetts.
• Civic Data Science Companies – This category includes Civis Analytics, BlueLabs, Elder Research, and Clarity Campaign Labs.
• Federal Government – Agencies such as the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Center for Health Statistics, as well as data teams within cabinet agencies. 
• Government Consultancies – Booz Allen Hamilton, Deloitte, Accenture, and West Monroe Partners all have large analytics teams.
• International Non-Governmental Organizations – the World Bank, J-PAL, Innovations for Poverty Action, the United Nations Global Pulse, and Oxfam International heavily rely on data and technology to aid in international development and conflict resolution.

Yes, the MSCAPP degree is a STEM-certified program, which means international students qualify for the STEM OPT Extension. You can reach out to the Office of International Affairs for more information on visas and OPT. 

No, due to the sequential nature of the CAPP core curriculum, students must enroll in the program full-time with a Fall Quarter start date. 

Yes, you can read detailed information on the course waivers page. Some students in the MSCAPP degree have a background in one of its four foundational pillars (economics, statistics, data science, or computer science). In order to offer more flexibility in coursework and allow students to challenge themselves, certain course waivers are available. 

All of the support services of Harris Public Policy and the Department of Computer Science are available to MSCAPP students. In Harris, this includes the Dean of Students office, Student Life team, the Career Development Office (CDO), the Harris Writing Program, and Alumni Relations. One-on-one tutoring is available for all MSCAPP core classes. General university services, like UChicagoGRAD, also support MSCAPP students.

All MSCAPP students work closely with an academic adviser throughout the program. As part of the Harris Dean of Students Office, the MSCAPP staff serve as academic advisers for CAPP students. They can help students select courses that are a fit for their academic and professional goals; identify resources for support; make connections within the CAPP and university networks; find internships, part-time work, and career opportunities before and after graduation; and more.

Most students augment their coursework with a part-time internship or research assistantship while at the University of Chicago.

University of Chicago-affiliated organizations include:

• Amyoli Internet Research (AIR) Lab
• Argonne National Laboratory
• Behavioral Insights and Parenting (BIP) Lab
• The Center for Effective Government
• The Center for Health and the Social Sciences (CHeSS)
• The Center for Spatial Data Science
• Chapin Hall
• Data Science Institute
• Energy Policy Institute at UChicago (EPIC)
• The Knowledge Lab
• Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation
• NORC at the University of Chicago
• The Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflict
• UChicago Urban Labs
• Full list of Harris-affiliated Policy Centers

To learn more about the MSCAPP program, you can:

• Contact a member of our team at capp@uchicago.edu 
• Connect with a Harris Ambassador
• Attend a Harris Admissions event
• Visit UChicago’s Campus
• Follow MSCAPP on LinkedIn

You can apply through the Harris website and learn more about the process on the requirements and deadlines page, as well as the Admissions Frequently Asked Questions page.

For questions about application requirements, deadlines, and the process in general, you may reach out to the Harris Admissions team at harrisadmissions@uchicago.edu. 

The deadlines for applying to the MSCAPP degree are the same as for all Harris master’s degrees. You can see those deadlines on Harris’s application requirements and deadlines page.