The Master’s program in Public Policy places special emphasis on Economics, associated with studies in Political Science and Law. It also gives students the possibility to attend elective courses in Business Administration.

Students have to complete six compulsory modules accounting for 36 credit points in total that improve their knowledge in (Public) Economics and Methods on an advanced level. The module of project studies serves as a preparation for the Master’s thesis.

The compulsory modules, each carrying six credit points, are:

• Microeconomics
• Macroeconomics
• Empirical Methods
• Economic Policy
• Advanced Public Choice
• Project Studies

The module in Political Science awards 18 credit points and differs for students depending on their prior academic knowledge in Political Science. Students without prior academic knowledge in Political Science participate in two of the four following basic courses from the bachelor’s program in Political Science:

• The Political System of the Federal Republic of Germany
• Comparative Political Science
• Political Theory
• International Relations

Afterwards, one master’s seminar in Political Science will be attended. Students can only choose those seminars for which they meet the prerequisites based in their selected basic courses.  The Institute of Political Science provides a list of seminaries that are opened for students of Public Policy. The seminars offered will mainly be on interdisciplinary topics in the areas of Economics and Political Science. If problems arise, students can address to the Student Advisory Service of the Institute of Political Science at any time.

Students with prior academic knowledge in Political Science (e.g. graduates from the bachelor’s program “Politics & Economics”) will attend either the seminar in political theory or in quantitative methods from the master’s program in Political Science for 6 credit points. Subsequently, they will choose two additional master’s level seminars master’s level offered by the Institute of Political Science.

In that same way, students complete the compulsory module in Law depending on their prior academic knowledge. Students without any prior knowledge will attend the courses “Public Law I” (Öffentliches Recht I) and “Constitutional Law I“ (Grundrechte) from the bachelor’s program “Economics & Law” to gain the necessary basic knowledge in public law.

Students with prior knowledge in Law (e.g. graduates from the bachelor’s program “Economics & Law”) will choose four advanced courses offered by the Faculty of Law. They are free to focus on one area of law or to attend courses with respect to different specializations. All courses, except for criminology, are open to Public Policy students.

The elective courses mainly cover subjects in Public and Political Economics. Nevertheless, students can complete modules in the area of Business Administration as well. Each module carries 6 credit points and at least one seminar has to be chosen. The elective courses in Economics are:

• Public Economics
• Labor Market and Employment Policy
• Current Issues in Economic Policy
• Fiscal Policy
• Public Choice

Students, who are interested in pursuing a career in international organizations or in public administration, can prepare for their future career by participating in several courses from the master’s program in Business Administration. Students can choose from the following courses:

• Management IV
• Economics of Human Resources
• Fundamentals of Research, Development and Innovation
• Governance

In the fourth semester, students will complete their project studies, a blocked research module serving to prepare their master’s thesis.

To offer students the possibility to spend the third semester abroad, there are no compulsory courses, but only elective courses scheduled for this semester.