Meyer and Renee Luskin School of Public Affairs
Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr., Dean
UCLA
3250 Public Affairs Building
Box 951656
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1656
(310) 206-7568
fax: (310) 206-5773
http://publicaffairs.ucla.edu
Founded in 1994, the UCLA Meyer and Renee Luskin School of Public Affairs incorporates best practices in scholarship, research, and teaching in the fields of policymaking, social work, and urban and regional planning. The unique intersection of these disciplines within one school allows for academic cross-collaboration and a graduate education that values perspectives at both the macroorganizational and microorganizational levels. Graduates of the master’s and doctoral degree programs are well prepared to take leadership roles and effect change as practitioners, researchers, and policymakers in the public, private, and nongovernmental sectors. Faculty members are actively engaged in research that addresses pressing national and regional issues, including immigration, drug policy, prison reform, healthcare financing, transportation and the environment, national security, economic development, and an aging U.S. and world population.
Departments
The school combines three academic departments--Public Policy, Social Welfare, and Urban Planning--and faculty members from such diverse disciplines as economics, geography, history, law, management, and political science. The school trains policy professionals, planners, and social workers for public, private, and nongovernment service, conducts research on significant regional, national, and international issues with a strong interdisciplinary and cross-cultural focus, and acts as a convener and catalyst for public dialogue, engaging people locally, nationally, and internationally.
Degrees and Programs
The school offers the following degrees, in addition to undergraduate minors in Gerontology, Public Affairs, and Urban and Regional Studies:
- Public Policy (M.P.P.)
- Social Welfare (M.S.W., Ph.D.)
- Urban and Regional Planning (M.U.R.P.)
- Urban Planning (Ph.D.)
Concurrent Degree Programs
The school offers 13 concurrent degree programs:
- Public Policy M.P.P./Law J.D.
- Public Policy M.P.P./Management M.B.A.
- Public Policy M.P.P./Medicine M.D.
- Public Policy M.P.P./Public Health M.P.H.
- Public Policy M.P.P./Social Welfare M.S.W.
- Social Welfare M.S.W./Asian American Studies M.A.
- Social Welfare M.S.W./Law J.D.
- Social Welfare M.S.W./Public Health M.P.H.
- Urban Planning M.U.R.P./Architecture M.Arch. I
- Urban Planning M.U.R.P./Latin American Studies M.A.
- Urban Planning M.U.R.P./Law J.D.
- Urban Planning M.U.R.P./Management M.B.A.
- Urban Planning M.U.R.P./Public Health M.P.H.
Obtain brochures about the school’s programs from the department offices, 3357 Public Affairs Building, or see http://publicaffairs.ucla.edu.
The school also offers a wide array of undergraduate courses in public policy, social welfare, and urban planning. Enrollment in these courses is open to all undergraduate students.
Admission
In addition to requiring that applicants hold a bachelor’s degree from an accredited U.S. institution or an equivalent degree or professional title from an international institution, each department in the school has limitations and additional requirements. Individuals interested in concurrent degrees must be admitted to both programs. Detailed information can be found in
Program Requirements for UCLA Graduate Degrees at http://grad.ucla.edu/gasaa/library/pgmrqintro.htm.
For information on the proficiency in English requirements for international graduate students, see Graduate Admission in the Graduate Study section of this catalog.
Degree Requirements
Requirements to fulfill each degree objective vary according to the degree and the department. For complete degree requirements, see Program Requirements for UCLA Graduate Degrees at http://grad.ucla.edu/gasaa/library/pgmrqintro.htm.
Research Centers
The school houses a number of research centers where faculty members from across the campus pursue issues of mutual interest. In addition to their focus on practical policy problems, the research centers also provide opportunities for student financial aid in the form of research assistant positions, grants, and fellowships.
Center for Civil Society
The Center for Civil Society (CCS) is the focal point for the school’s programs and activities in nonprofit leadership and management, community organizations and advocacy, international nongovernmental organizations, and philanthropy. The center coordinates teaching of nonprofit and civil society aspects, conducts research, convenes meetings and seminars, offers executive education, and contributes to a policy dialogue about the current and future role of nonprofit organizations, philanthropy, and civil society. See http://civilsociety.ucla.edu.
Center for Policy Research on Aging
The Center for Policy Research on Aging (CPRA) was formed to address the significant issues of an aging society through policy analysis, dissemination of information, and technical assistance to the public and private sectors. The demographic challenges of a nation growing older and living longer force us to confront the roles of government and the private sector in serving the increasing number of elderly and their families. The center’s mission is to conduct research, inform policymakers, link communities to local, state, and federal governments, and foster collaboration among UCLA faculty members. See http://www.latinoeconomicsecurity.org/cpra.html.
Institute of Transportation Studies
The UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS), one of the leading transportation policy research centers in the U.S., was created in 1993 to conduct research and provide professional education on the social, economic, environmental, and cultural aspects of transportation policy. Each year ITS faculty members, students, and research staff collaborate on a wide array of transportation policy and planning studies, ranging from an analysis of the travel trends and transportation needs of immigrants and low-income workers to the testing and evaluation of innovative fare programs to increase public transit use. See
http://www.its.ucla.edu.
Ralph and Goldy Lewis Center
The Lewis Center was established in 1988 with a $5-million endowment from Ralph and Goldy Lewis to promote the multidisciplinary study, understanding, and solution of regional policy issues in California. Research projects include topics such as welfare reform, immigration, the environment, health insurance, labor and employment, and transportation. See http://lewis.ucla.edu.
Luskin Center for Innovation
The Luskin Center for Innovation serves as a point of intersection and interaction at UCLA, bringing together the brightest minds to concentrate on a specific urgent policy issue in Southern California. Los Angeles is at a critical juncture in many key areas of public policy. UCLA has the intellectual capital to bring together some of the top thinkers in the country, the most enterprising students, and relevant research to support innovative approaches to broad policy problems.
Strategically located within the Luskin School of Public Affairs, the Luskin Center was founded with a generous gift from the Luskins to engage the academic and public decision makers together in actively pursuing solutions to the Los Angeles region’s most urgent threats. The center turns the conventional dividing lines between the academic and practical world into a meeting point--reaching across disciplines, sectors, and political points of view to actively pursue long-term solutions that can immediately be put into practice. The current funding cycle addresses environmental sustainability and pollution reduction in Los Angeles. See http://luskin.ucla.edu.
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Prospective Students 
