Consists of 22 five-week, online core courses, and 4 online specialization courses. Online courses are 1 credit. The degree includes three 1-week residential sessions* in Ithaca and a substantial capstone project which unfolds over the duration of the program and culminates in a final presentation. The entire program (online courses + on-campus intensive sessions + capstone project) comprises 36 credits. Students should expect to spend an average of 18-20 hours per week on their studies.

*Students in the incoming cohort will make two 1-week visits to Cornell’s campus and will be invited to walk at the May 2026 commencement.

Online Courses

Foundation Courses:

• PUBPOL 5019 – Data-Driven Organizations, Policy and Decision-Making for Executives
• PUBPOL 5023 – Strategic Advocacy for Executives
• PUBPOL 5112 – Public Administration: A Strategic Planning Perspective
• PUBPOL 5119 – Leadership for Public Service Executives
• PUBPOL 5122 – Negotiations Skills for Executives
• PUBPOL 5133 – Law and Public Agency Decisions for Executives
• PUBPOL 5170 – Market Regulation for Executives
• PUBPOL 5313 – Managerial Statistics for Public Affairs Executives
• PUBPOL 5343 – Program Evaluation for Executives
• PUBPOL 5383 – Translational Research for Executives
• PUBPOL 5413 – Strategic Nonprofit Management for Executives
• PUBPOL 5415 – Project Management for Executives
• PUBPOL 5424 – Public Budgeting and Finance for Executives
• PUBPOL 5435 – Public and Nonprofit Marketing for Executives
• PUBPOL 5442 – Effective Policy Writing for Public Affairs Executives
• PUBPOL 5423 – Financial Accounting for Executives
• PUBPOL 5433 – Managing Change in Public Affairs for Executives
• PUBPOL 5434 – Fundraising for Executives
• PUBPOL 5453 – International Public Management for Executives
• PUBPOL 5475 – Public Interest Technology for Executives
• PUBPOL 5573 – Corporate Responsibility for Executives

Specialization Courses for the EMPA Degree may include the following, as well as additional courses developed to meet the needs of each cohort:

• PUBPOL 5128 – Rethinking Development for Executives
• PUBPOL 5362 – Spreadsheet Modeling for Executives
• PUBPOL 5407 – Mediation for Managers and Executives
• PUBPOL 5455 – Comparative Public Administration
• PUBPOL 5659 – Cross-Cultural Communication for Executives
• PUBPOL 5767 – Cybersecurity for Executive Leaders
• PUBPOL 5787 – Leadership in the Algorithmic Age: AI and Public Policy
• PUBPOL 5853 – Digital Transformation for Executives
• PUBPOL 5856 – International Human Rights Law and Policy for Executives
• PUBPOL 5859 – Human Rights Obligations
• PUBPOL 5913 – VUCA Leadership for Executives
• PUBPOL 5950 – Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA) Capstone

On-Campus Courses

Current students will make three 1-week visits to Cornell’s campus, where they will meet their classmates and professors in person. These Ithaca residencies include intensive courses in:

Year 1 Summer residency week:

1. PUBPOL 5123 – Microeconomics for Public Affairs Executives
2. PUBPOL 5413 – Strategic Nonprofit Management for Executives
3. PUBPOL 5453 – International Public Management for Executives

Year 2 Summer residency week:

1. PUBPOL 5174 – Navigating Public-Private Partnerships for Executives
2. PUBPOL 5433 – Managing Change in Public Affairs for Executives
3. PUBPOL 5733 – Vulnerability and Resilience Planning for Executives

*Incoming students will make two 1-week visits to Cornell’s campus and will be invited to walk at the May 2026 commencement.

Specialization Courses

Tailor your program by choosing from two specializations:

• Public and Nonprofit Management, with specialization courses in managing technology, managing personnel, decision analytics, and leadership and strategy.
• International Policy, with specialization courses in frontiers of international policy, human rights, international management, and leadership and strategy.

Joint Residential MPA/EMPA Seminar

• Comparative Public Administration. This is a 7-Week Joint Residential MPA/EMPA Seminar that convenes for the first half of the fall semester. MPA students may substitute this course for one of their EMPA Specialization Course requirements in either concentration. The course will convene synchronously online and requires a field trek to San Jose, Costa Rica at the conclusion of the course (late October).
• During the Fall 2022 trek, both MPA and EMPA students had the opportunity to engage with high-level stakeholders across the Costa Rican public, private, and nonprofit sectors on Costa Rica’s global leadership on sustainability, immigration, infrastructure, and workforce development. Students met members of Congress, former President of Costa Rica Jose Maria Figueres, diplomatic delegations from Brazil and Colombia, and several Brooks MPA Alumni, including Dr. Alvaro Salas-Castro, founder of Democracy Lab, Jairo Mena-Arce, Executive Director of AZOFRAS, and Ronald Segura Sojo, Program Management Office at the Omar Dengo Foundation.

Course Sequence

• You will take your core courses in a prescribed sequence, together with your cohort.
• You will take your four credits of specialization courses during the second year of the program.

Course Grading

• Both letter and S/U grades.