Dual Degree Opportunities

Dual Degree Programs

The Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, which is affiliated with the Rackham School of Graduate Studies, offer a dual degree program enabling a small number of qualified persons to pursue concurrent work in business administration and public policy leading to the MBA and MPP degrees.

The program is arranged so that all requirements for both degrees are completed in three years of enrollment. The degrees are awarded simultaneously.

This dual degree program is not open to students who have earned either the MBA or MPP degree. Students registered in the first year of either program may apply.

Students admitted to this dual degree program must satisfy the following degree requirements:

1) The MBA 57 credit hour degree program including:

• 45 Business Administration credits made up of:
  • Roughly 30 credit hour MBA core (no credit is awarded for Business Administration core courses successfully waived; credit must be earned with Business electives);
  • Roughly 15 elective hours in Business Administration;
  • MBA communication requirement.
• Up to 12 credit hours of transferable electives from the School of Public Policy;

2) The 48 hours of graduate level FSPP courses, including:

• The 21 hour core, no credit is awarded for core courses successfully waived credit must be earned with Ford School electives;
• 18 elective hours in FSPP;
• 9 credit hours of transferable electives from the Business School;
• Participation in the Integrated Policy Exercise (IPE), an intensive week-long practical application exercise for all Ford School students at the beginning of two of three winter terms.

The total credit hours for the dual degree program must be at least 84.

The dual program may begin with studies in either school. Years one and two will be dedicated to completing core requirements exclusively in the Business School or the Ford School. In year three, courses might be taken in both schools. Each school will apply its own deferred admissions standards to students who elect to take the first year in the other school. Students who wish to begin with Public Policy should see a counselor in the Business School to arrange an appropriate plan of study.

Students can satisfy the core course requirements in either program by approved examinations or waivers. For dual degree students, completion of any three specified FSPP courses in economics and public finance will satisfy the BE 502 Applied Microeconomics requirement in the MBA program (see the dual degree advisor at the Business School for the list of approved courses.) Completion of either OMS 502 or PUBPOL 529 will satisfy the statistics requirement for both schools. No course work completed prior to admission in either program may be counted toward the MBA requirements of the dual program.

Applicants interested in the MBA/MPP combined program must file separate applications to be admitted by both schools. Applicants must indicate on both applications that they are applying for this specific dual degree program (please make sure the correct box is checked on the MBA application; check the space on the Rackham application indicating you are submitting more than one application). An application fee of $60 for United States Citizens and permanent residents or $75 for international students must be paid to Rackham.

Applicants must take the GMAT for admission to Michigan's Ross School of Business. The Ford School will accept either the GRE or the GMAT for applications to the dual degree program.

For basic information about the MPP/MBA program, please visit the Ford School of Public Policy web site at:
http://www.fordschool.umich.edu/

Please see below for a sample plan of this dual degree program.