SIPA's alumni include former heads of state, business leaders, journalists, diplomats, and elected representatives.[1] Half of SIPA's nearly 1,400 students are international, coming from over 100 countries. SIPA has more than 70 full-time faculty, many of which include the world's leading scholars on international relations.
Columbia University'sSchool of International Affairs was founded in 1946 following the aftermath ofWorld War II. Emphasizing practical training, the mission of SIPA was to foster the understanding of critical regions and to preparediplomats,officials, and otherprofessionals to meet the complexities of the postwar world. It originated in dynamic regional institutes that drew on Columbia's renowned faculties inhistory,economics,political science,linguistics, and other traditional fields. The school initially awarded aMaster of International Affairs (MIA) degree.
By 1967, the school was home to eightregional institutes, covering nearly every part of the globe. It also contained the non-area-specific Institute of War and Peace Studies (now theArnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies), founded in 1951 by university presidentDwight D. Eisenhower.[2] Originally housed in a row ofbrownstones, the school moved into its own 15-story building in 1971.
To meet a growing demand for public service professionals, the school added a second degree, theMaster of Public Administration, in 1977. In 1981, the program was renamed the Graduate Program in Public Policy and Administration and the school renamed the School of International and Public Affairs.[3]
In the early 1990s, SIPA began appointing its own faculty, supplementing the distinguishedsocial andnatural scientists andhumanists with whom SIPA students studied around the university. Within 15 years, SIPA faculty were among the most prominent in their fields, including the one-time director of theU.S. census, aNobel Laureate in Economics, a judge on the appellate body of theWorld Trade Organization, economic advisors in both theBill Clinton andGeorge H. W. Bush administrations, a former assistantsecretary general of theUnited Nations, and many distinguished research scholars.
In 1992, with support from theWorld Bank, the Program in Economic Policy Management (PEPM) was established to provide mid-career finance professionals with the skills required for the effective design and implementation of economic policy, emphasizing the problems of developing andtransition economies. Students who complete PEPM's requirements are awarded an MPA degree.
To accommodate the needs of working professionals who could not pursue full-time study, SIPA established the Executive MPA program in 1999 as part of the Picker Center for Executive Education. In 2001 the school introduced an MPA in Environmental Science and Policy (ESP), which condenses the two years into twelve consecutive months, without a reduction in requirements, and provides core courses in management and policy analysis with a concentration inenvironmental science andearth systems. The ESP MPA program is offered in cooperation withThe Earth Institute and theLamont–Doherty Earth Observatory. In fall 2004 SIPA inaugurated its first doctoral program, the interdisciplinary Ph.D. inSustainable Development, which combines elements of a traditional graduate education in social science, particularly economics, with a significant training in the natural sciences.
In addition to fulfilling all core requirements, MIA and MPA students must also satisfy the requirements of both a policy concentration and a specialization. Students choose one of the following six concentrations: Economic and Political Development; Energy and Environment; International Finance and Economic Policy (includes focus areas in international finance; international economic policy; and central banking); Human Rights and Humanitarian Policy; International Security Policy; or Urban and Social Policy.[6]
Students choose a specialization in one of the following: Data Analytics and Quantitative Analysis; Gender and Public Policy; International Conflict Resolution; International Organization and UN Studies; Technology, Media, and Communications; Management; or regional expertise (8 different regions/countries). Regional specializations are offered in the following areas: Africa, East Asia, East Central Europe, Europe, Latin America, The Middle East, Russia, South Asia, and the United States. The Advanced Policy and Economic Analysis (APEA) specialization was discontinued during the 2018–2019 academic year.
Foreign Policy ranked SIPA fifth in its 2018 ranking of "Top Master's Programs for Policy Career in International Relations".[7] In addition, SIPA was ranked first byU.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools in the 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022 world rankings for International Global Policy and Administration and fifth for Environmental Policy and Management.[8] In 2023, and later in 2025,U.S. News & World Report ranked SIPA 1st in International Global Policy and Administration.[9][10]
Center for Development Economics and Policy (CDEP): Supports microeconomic research to investigate the sources of poverty and to inform practical interventions to address them.
Center for Environmental Economics and Policy (CEEP): Undertakes research into the causes of environmental change, the consequences of this change for humanity, and the policies that can prevent and—where possible—reverse harmful environmental change to ensure sustainable development.
Center on Global Economic Governance (CGEG): Develops, promotes and implements new theories, studies, and policy initiatives that cut across nation-state boundaries and address global economic governance.
Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP): Provides independent, balanced, data-driven analysis to help policymakers navigate the complex world of energy.
Deepak and Neera Raj Center on Indian Economic Policies (CIEP): Promotes economic prosperity in India by improving understanding of the Indian economy through scholarly research, disseminating this knowledge to practitioners and policymakers, and sustaining ongoing dialogues on major policy issues facing India.
Institute of Global Politics (IGP): Drives impact on today's global challenges by convening leading scholars and practitioners, developing policy solutions, and preparing the next generation of leaders on five areas: geopolitical stability, democratic resilience, climate and sustainable development, inclusive prosperity and macroeconomic performance, and technology and innovation.
Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies (SIWPS): Founded in 1951 under the sponsorship of Dwight D. Eisenhower, during his tenure as president of Columbia University, SIWPS was created to promote understanding of the "disastrous consequences of war upon man's spiritual, intellectual, and material progress". The institute has become one of the leading research centers on international relations in the United States.
Previous centers include:
Center for International Conflict Resolution (CICR): Contributes to the resolution of international deadly conflict through research, education and practice. It was founded in 1997 by professor Andrea Bartoli as the International Conflict Resolution Program. The center was renamed in 2002, and it is aresearch center located within theSaltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies.
Journal of International Affairs was established in 1947 and is the oldest university-affiliated publication in the field of international relations; it is edited by SIPA students.[12]
The Morningside Post is SIPA's student-founded, student-run multimedia news publication. Its content: student-written investigative news about SIPA and the SIPA community, plus world affairs analysis, opinion, and satire.[13]
Conflict Resolution Journal is a dynamic and evolving web-based project founded by SIPA students.
SIPA News is a biannual publication featuring articles by faculty, students, and alumni as well as news about the school.
Mark M. Lowenthal, former Assistant Director of Central Intelligence for Analysis and Production and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence Research
John Ruggie, former dean of SIPA; former Assistant Secretary-General and chief advisor for strategic planning toUnited Nations Secretary-GeneralKofi Annan. He continues to serve as the UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Business and Human Rights
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