#LBJ50: Training the Future's Leaders

LBJ students line up to attend the 2019 commencement ceremony in front of the lighted LBJ mural wall

LBJ quote from the school dedication ceremony: We have a school of public affairs…which will try to produce thinkers and doers: people who dream of progress and will try to turn those dreams into achievements.

Since 1970, the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs has built a proud tradition of public service and cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research on the greatest public policy challenges of our time. Founded to prepare the next generation of leaders in public service, the school set a new model for public affairs graduate programs as the first to blend the academic with the practical, combining academic theory and analysis with real-life experience to address complex problems with innovative solutions.

  • The Master of Public Affairs program focuses on public policy analysis and administration, training graduates to become leaders in city, state and federal government, business and nonprofit organizations.
  • The Master of Global Policy Studies program is designed to offer a relevant, solution-based view of international policymaking from foreign policy and diplomacy to security, energy, economics, trade, environment and development.
  • The DC Concentration is a unique 18-month track within the MPAff and MGPS programs trains students for careers in the domestic or international policy arenas in Washington, DC.
  • Dual degrees with both the MPAff and MGPS programs give students an extraordinary amount of flexibility to customize their education with 17 dual degree options spanning communications, law, business, technology, international studies and liberal arts.
  • The Ph.D. in Public Policy program allows students to develop in areas of special interest and earn their degrees in just four years.
  • The Executive Master in Public Leadership program brings together successful professionals who want to expand their impact, broaden their career horizons and cultivate leadership capacity.