For admissions information, please email [email protected].
For program information, please email Anna Parks [email protected].
Learn from Peers, Scholars, and Expert Practitioners
This program brings together established leaders in industry, government, and nonprofit sectors to design frameworks and strategies for sophisticated problem-solving. Students learn from their peers as well as from the Price School’s expert faculty, who address some of the most complex and challenging governance problems of our time.
Students pursue doctoral studies while simultaneously advancing careers in a diverse range of fields. Examples include public policy, health, real estate, law, civil engineering, philanthropy, and social work. The program’s participatory learning approach leverages students’ professional expertise to deepen critical engagement with theories, models, and emerging data. Courses produce rich debate and analysis as students apply contrasting perspectives to complex problems.
Each cohort enters a dynamic learning community where shared growth, comraderie, and intellectual influence extend far beyond the classroom. Through a rigorous course sequence, interdisciplinary peer engagement, and mentored research, students become scholar practitioners, ready to lead innovation in their fields.
Program Learning Objectives
The DPPD supports students in developing a deeper understanding of their professional practice, supporting the development of networks, and refining skills through a cohort-based model. Learning objectives include:
- Establish the ability to bring research and theoretical models to bear in support of effective decision-making, leadership, and innovative practice;
- Articulate the nature of complex policy and planning systems and strategically plan for success in problem-solving;
- Develop strategies for working across sectors to design solutions, particularly within urban settings;
- Enhance analytic capacities as consumers and evaluators of academic research;
- Conduct applied research and translate it to practice;
- Develop sensitivity and cultural awareness as leaders.