Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy and Management with Concentration in Local Government

at State University of New York at Albany USA

To support the well-being of individuals and communities, you need to understand the psychological, social, cultural, and biological aspects of human development and learning across the life span.

In the interdisciplinary bachelor's in human development, you work toward your long-term career goals by personalizing your course of study with a concentration in your specific area of interest.

Graduates are employed as behavioral specialists, at-risk youth counselors, child development consultants, program evaluators, academic advisors, and institutional research analysts.

Common workplaces include schools, social services, pediatric hospitals, juvenile justice systems, wellness clinics, disability support providers, VA hospitals, and mental health agencies.

Higher Education Concentration
Gain leadership skills to prepare for administrative jobs in universities and other post-secondary education institutions.

Get equipped to work as a biotech instrument specialist in private-sector research and development departments, biomedical engineering firms, public health agencies, and biotechnology labs.

The bioinstrumentation bachelor’s program at UAlbany is grounded in interdisciplinary studies and provides a solid foundation in public health, biology, and biotechnology. It offers intense practical training in high-tech molecular research labs located on campus and at local biotech companies.

Learn how biology, pathology, immunology, and epidemiology intersect and impact public health as you master lab techniques and use scientific instruments to sequence proteins and DNA, analyze real-time polymerase chain reactions, conduct high pressure liquid chromatography, and more.

Are you ready to make a difference? Perhaps you'd like to counsel children with behavioral difficulties or work with seniors, run a homeless shelter or treat addictions, promote workplace diversity or change social welfare policy - all to help people function at their best in society. That would make you an ideal social welfare major or minor.  

The undergraduate social welfare program at UAlbany teaches you how to advance social, economic and environmental justice and to serve people who are vulnerable, marginalized, and oppressed. You will gain firsthand experience working with individuals, families, groups, organizations and/or communities to create change and improve social conditions. 

If you want to dig deep into financial challenges and influence potential economic outcomes with research-driven data, an MA in Economics from the University at Albany will empower you to excel as a modern economist. Enhance your understanding in economics analysis while honing in on a concentration like finance, economic forecasting, international economics and more.

This program prepares you for careers in administration and research in government, business and other private organizations. Acquire advanced training in economic analysis to become an expert in your designated area of concentration.

Learn to think critically about world events while building familiarity with modern reporting methods. You will not only write print articles, but design and fill websites with video, photos and sound to report news and engage with audiences.

Through coursework and internships you will gain valuable multimedia experience that will serve you in industries from news reporting and public relations to publishing and politics in the bachelor’s in journalism program at the University at Albany.

The bachelor’s in business economics program at UAlbany gives you substantial knowledge of economics relevant for careers in business. You’ll examine relationships between business practice, public sector resource allocation, market structures, international trade, interest rates, employment and wages, production costs, pricing, and more.

With this program, you will gain the necessary economics skills, such as forecasting in various markets and analyzing data to prepare you for business decision-making in a complex economy.

Create useful applications and solve practical data management problems with interdisciplinary skills in information technology and computer science taught in the bachelor's program in informatics.

Through team-based activities and hands-on exercises, you'll learn how to store and retrieve data, employ emerging technologies, and build user-centered systems – all of which are embedded in the day-to-day operations of every organization.

From relational databases to client-based web technologies, and internal computer architecture to networking fundamentals, you'll be prepared to lead complex digital projects from start to finish.

Ranked among the top 20 public affairs programs in the nation, the Rockefeller College Master of Public Administration program prepares you to excel as a government administrator, policy analyst, information technology manager, or strategic and financial leader of public and nonprofit institutions.

As you move through the 49-credit MPA curriculum and complete your professional internship, you learn how to successfully oversee projects, support and motivate teams, improve organizational performance, and monitor policy impact to help solve complex socioeconomic problems.

Public Policy
If you're interested in public policy we have two main concentrations and a set of substantive concentrations in specific policy areas (e.g., health policy; education policy; criminal justice policy; women and public policy, global affairs, etc) that you might choose to design with the assistance of your advisor.

If you're interested in more applied quantitative or qualitative skills in conducting policy analysis, we recommend the Policy Analytic Methods concentration.

If you have an interest in the policy process and politics (i.e., drafting legislation, political advocacy/strategy, lobbying, etc), we recommend the Policy Process, Politics and Institutions concentration.

Learn how to analyze and report on policy issues, and how to manage information resources in the public and not-for-profit sectors.

To develop specialized skills, you can earn sub-concentrations by taking multiple courses in one or two sub-fields:
Policy Analysis
Work at a research institute or a government agency to evaluate how well policies and public programs work. Work as a legislative analyst to identify the best policy to implement. Whatever your career aspiration, the nationally ranked MPA program at Rockefeller College will prepare you for success in the field of policy analysis.

Policy Process, Politics and Institutions
Understand the role of public institutions in policies development and the administration of political systems of the United States and other countries.

With its solid foundation in computer science theory and practice, the Master of Science in Computer Science program at the University at Albany is an excellent preparation for a career in computer systems design, software engineering, and applications of computers, or for pursuing a doctorate degree.

Through coursework and hands-on experience in areas such as intelligent systems, information security, software engineering, computer networks, and data mining, you will gain the necessary training to meet your professional goals in occupations that require advanced knowledge of computer theory and technology.

Gain an advanced understanding of the criminal justice system and criminology. Whether you want to further your role in law enforcement or become active in public policy, you will acquire the knowledge for a successful career in areas like policing, law, crime analysis, and research with a master's degree in criminal justice from the University at Albany.

Build connections and put your knowledge to practice through internships at national, state, and local agencies. Tailor your studies to match your career goals through a general track or select a concentration.

Through diverse course offerings you will learn about the structure of criminal justice systems, theories of crime, and evaluation of effective policy and practice using enhanced research and statistical skills.

You will have the option to pursue a general track or focus your studies with a concentration in:

• Information Technology
• Crime Causation, Prevention, and Intervention
• Justice Systems
• Problem Solving and Analysis

Information Technology
The curriculum is designed to extend and expand the statistical and methodological expertise learned in the traditional sequence of the School's methods and statistical courses.