ANN ARBOR—A new undergraduate program at the University of Michigan will enable students to earn a bachelor’s degree from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.

The program was approved by the U-M Board of Regents in December 2005, and received final approval by the Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan, this month.

Students will apply to the program during their sophomore year and if admitted will transfer into the Ford School for their final two years. The school, which currently offers master’s and doctoral degrees, will accept applications for the undergraduate program beginning in winter 2006 and will welcome its first class of juniors in fall 2007.

John Chamberlin, professor of public policy and political science who is overseeing the program’s establishment, said 50 juniors would be accepted into the program each fall. The school currently has about 200 students and 35 faculty members. Several new faculty members will be hired as the undergraduate program moves forward.

“An undergraduate program in public policy will reinforce the University’s commitment to the missions of teaching, research and service related to public affairs,” said Rebecca Blank, the school’s dean.

“I am excited about the opportunities that the BA program will provide for its students,” Chamberlin said.” We hope to recruit a group of students who will make up a small and engaged learning community, students who bring to the program a diversity of backgrounds and experiences, intellectual perspectives, policy interests, and career aspirations.”

The Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy will be a multi-disciplinary social science degree program that emphasizes the analysis of contemporary public policy issues. The proposed degree will combine core coursework in economics, political science and statistics with policy electives and integrative policy seminars that provide opportunities for students to work together in teams to apply their skills in the analysis of both domestic and international policy problems.

The new courses that will be part of the degree program will be open to other students, enriching the offerings available to all undergraduates at Michigan. An introductory course will teach students public policy analysis and will be required for those who plan to become public policy majors. This course, open to all U-M undergraduates in fall 2006, is entitled” Public Policy 201: Systematic Thinking About Problems of the Day,” and will be taught by Paul N. Courant, professor of public policy and economics and U-M Provost from 2002-2005.

Discussion of Ford School involvement in undergraduate education began in 2000, soon after Blank became the school’s dean. The approved program is the result of planning efforts over the last several years that included the Ford School faculty and staff as well as members of the Provost’s Office and the LS&A Dean’s Office.

The Ford School began in the early 1900s as the Institute of Public Administration” one of the first of its kind nationwide. The IPA was reorganized in 1968 as the Institute of Public Policy Studies, with an expanded curriculum to include economic analysis, political analysis and quantitative methods. In 1995, it was given school status within U-M and named the School of Public Policy. The school was officially named after former President Gerald R. Ford, a U-M alumnus, in 1999.

U.S. News & World Report ranked the Ford School among the top 10 schools nationwide in public administration/public policy. Currently, Ford School faculty and staff are housed in three U-M buildings, including the main office in Lorch Hall. In August 2006, the entire faculty and program staff will move into the five-story, 80,000 square-foot Weill Hall, currently under construction at the northeast corner of State and Hill streets.

For more information about the Ford School, visit http://www.fordschool.umich.edu/.