MASTER OF SCIENCE IN SOCIAL POLICY +
DATA ANALYTICS FOR SOCIAL POLICY CERTIFICATE
Use data science to actively impact equity, equality, and social justice.
The MSSP Program + Data Analytics for Social Policy Certificate (MSSP+DA) is a STEM-designated degree that empowers you to leverage social policy and data analytics to address economic, educational, and health inequities. Throughout the program, the data analytic material is taught in relationship with the various theories, approaches, and domains of social policy analysis. You’ll learn to use data to help solve disparities of race/ethnicity, gender, and class across systems such as immigration, child welfare, and education.
For students interested in pursuing the MSSP program without the data analytics certificate, please see our Master of Science in Social Policy degree.
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Director’s Welcome
“Our interdisciplinary program provides you with rigorous training in policy analysis, data analytics, and critical theory.”
The SP2 Difference
Complete your degree full-time in 3–4 semesters (the MSSP+DA is only offered on a full-time basis; no variation or extension is possible)
Gain hands-on, career-focused experience through policy internships in data analytics
Learn programming languages such as SAS, R, Python, Java, GIS, and ArcGIS
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Engage in practical policy research in the Data for Equitable Justice Lab
Become part of a diverse global alumni network
World-Class Faculty
The MSSP program faculty are here to help you shape your own area of policy expertise, drawing on decades of scholarship, teaching, and experience in areas including education and social policy, homelessness, integrated database systems, the labor market, and technology, ethics, and social policy. The MSSP+DA program faculty are here to help you shape your own area of policy expertise, drawing on decades of scholarship, teaching, and experience. Their expertise spans areas as diverse as ontologies of computational and data analytics, the integration of administrative data for research, and the usage of interactive visual analytics systems.
Curriculum
The MSSP+DA curriculum provides students with core policy courses and training and skills in the conceptual foundations of data analytics, programming of data structures, applications of machine learning and predictive analytics, spatial analytics, and the data processing techniques for web scraping and data visualization for a broader public audience. Students will learn programming languages such as SAS, R, Java, Python, GIS, and ArcGIS for the processing, cleaning, and analyzing of digital data for social policy.
Electives
You may choose two elective courses to maximize breadth in multiple substantive policy areas or to specialize your degree in an area of social policy analysis and conduct further research.
Elective courses may be taken either at the School of Social Policy or at any of the 12 graduate schools at Penn. For more information on selecting elective courses, please visit the MSSP Resources page.
Course Grid
The course grid reflects the required 12 course unit course of study for MSSP+DA students to ensure on-time graduation. Any alteration from the plan of study requires approval from an academic advisor.
1st Semester (Fall)
- MSSP 6280: Policy: Analysis of Issues, Strategy and Process (1 CU)
- MSSP 7100: Democratizing Data (1 CU)
- MSSP 6070: Practical Data Science (1 CU)
- MSSP 8970: Applied Linear Modeling (1 CU)
4 CU
2nd Semester (Spring)
- MSSP 6310: Law and Social Policy or MSSP 7805: Law and Social Policy: Foundations (1 CU)
- MSSP/SWRK 7300: Community Mapping (1 CU)
- MSSP 6080: Practical Machine Learning (1 CU)
- Elective (1 CU)
4 CU
3rd Semester (Fall)
- MSSP 6380: MSSP+DA Capstone Seminar: Telling Stories with Data (1CU)
- MSSP 6390: MSSP+DA Policy Internship in Data Analytics Seminar (0CU)
- MSSP 6680: Economics for Social Policy (1CU)
- MSSP 6290: Research & Evaluation Design (1CU)
- Elective (1CU)
4 CU
Social Policy Internship
The MSSP+DA program provides students with competitive and cutting-edge opportunities to complete policy internships in data analytics that emphasize competency development in both policy analysis and data analytics. These parallel competencies position graduates to work in the fast growing and developing world of data analytics for social policy. Credit for internships is incorporated into the MSSP+DA Capstone Seminar, and students most often complete the internship in their final spring semester. The Data Analytics policy internship must consist of a minimum commitment of 150 hours.
Ready to join the MSSP+DA community?
FEATURED ALUMNI
Naimat Chopra, MSSP+DA ’22
“My decision to attend SP2 was driven by my passion to specialize in the intersection of data analysis, policy, and development studies. The ENERGIA fellowship I pursued at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy significantly deepened my understanding of gender, energy, and climate policies. With the skills acquired at SP2, I successfully transitioned to roles at UN Energy and the Asian Development Bank. Currently, I am working as an independent energy and climate specialist. The professors and administrative staff at SP2 have played a crucial role in fostering my academic and professional growth. They have been deeply invested in my career achievements and continue to provide invaluable support and guidance. Choosing SP2 was one of the most pivotal decisions of my life, and marks a transformative milestone in my professional journey.”
Related News
Faculty & Research
02/07
Improving lives through data: SP2’s Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy boosts national impact through students and alumni
Like a number of SP2 students and alumni, Sharon Zanti, PhD in Social Welfare ’24, has taken a path that is interwoven with SP2’s Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy (AISP). An initiative co-founded by Professor Dennis Culhane, AISP has paved the way for state and local governments to better support residents by responsibly connecting data.
Faculty & Research
09/05
Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) among partner schools for Penn Center on Media, Technology, and Democracy
The University of Pennsylvania today announced $10 million in funding dedicated to its new Center for Media, Technology, and Democracy. The Center will be housed in the Penn School of Engineering and Applied Science (Penn Engineering) and will operate in partnership with five other schools at Penn, including SP2.
Student Life
07/20
SP2 student and alumnus named 2023 Data Fluencies Dissertation Research Grantee
In support of a project aiming to advance responsible use of data and technology in the U.S. child welfare system, PhD student Julian Quiros, MSSP+DA’17, has been named a 2023 Data Fluencies Dissertation Research Grantee.