Public Affairs Minor
Public Policy Undergraduate Course Descriptions
Social Welfare Undergraduate Course Descriptions
Urban Planning Undergraduate Course Descriptions
Urban and Regional Studies Minor
FAQs for Minor
Undergraduate Handbook
Michael S. Dukakis Internship in Public Policy


Public Affairs Minor

Applied public policy is an increasingly important element of any modern education. The Minor in Public Affairs complements a liberal arts or science major through a systematic examination of a broad range of public policy issues, mainly through the analysis of specific social, political and economic problems addressed by each of the three departments in the School of Public Affairs: Social Welfare, Urban Planning, and Public Policy. The underlying questions examined in our classes range from how to design cities to reduce traffic problems, to the devil in the details of the legislative process, to the problems and challenges of eldercare, among many others.

The Public Affairs Minor requires the completion of seven (4 unit) classes. As shown in more detail below, the requirements for the minor have four parts meant to be taken in more or less this order:

  1. An introductory course in public policy,
  2. an applied course focused on a specific policy issue,
  3. 4 upper division electives, and
  4. a final “capstone” seminar.

While the minor draws on all three departments, you are encouraged to use the 4 electives to “specialize” in one of these departments.

Admission to the Public Affairs Minor:

Prerequisite: Public Policy 10A is the only prerequisite for admission to the minor. Students must earn a B in PP 10A. Students are also strongly encouraged to take a lower division course in statistics and another in microeconomics.

Students must earn at least the University minimum requirement of a C (2.0) average in courses taken for the minor Introductory Policy Requirement (1 course): This is a broad overview of theoretical and applied approaches to public policy analysis, including a critical discussion of how policies are designed and implemented.

Introduction to Public Policy (PP 10A) Applied Policy Analysis Requirement (1 course): The purpose of this requirement is to build on PP 10A by focusing on one policy topic in more detail.

Choose one course from the following:

California Policy Issues (PP 10B)

Community and Labor Development from the Ground up (Honors Collegium 82)

Drug Abuse Control Policy (PP C101)

Rational Policies, Irrational People (PP 102)

Environmental and Resource Economics and Policy (PP C115)

Nuclear Weapons: Critical Decisions (PP M116)

Crime Control Policy (PP C119)

Rights and Wrongs of Affirmative Action (PP C125)

Labor Markets and Public Policy (PP C142)

Upper Division Requirement (4 courses):

4 upper division courses to be selected from Urban Planning, Public Policy, or Social Welfare.
(Notes: Independent study courses – i.e., 197s, and internship classes do NOT count unless approved by the Public AffairsMinor Office. You can petition to have applied policy courses from outside Public Affairs count for up to two of these electives. Finally, Social Welfare 130A & B do NOT apply toward the Upper Division Requirement.)

Capstone (1 course):

Choose one course from the following:

Public Policy 187, Research Seminar in Public Policy, or CAPPP or Political Science M197W

Public Policy C117, Crisis Decision Making in U.S. Foreign Policy

Political Science M191 DC, CAPPP, Washington, D.C. Internship

Program Civic Engagement 105-SL, Community-Based Program Evaluation

Additional classes may be added and will be posted in the event that a course is added meeting the CAPSTONE requirement.

Contact information: Room 3357H, Public Affairs Building Telephone: 310-206-4613 Email: dodge@spa.ucla.edu