Earn a Master’s in International Policy and Development

Launch your career in international development

  • Complete your degree in as few as 12 months.
  • Develop expertise in conflict transformation, migration, and development economics, bolstered by widely transferable skills like data analysis and program management.
  • Learn from expert faculty—not teaching assistants—who have decades of experience in major international organizations, including the United Nations, USAID, and the State Department.
  • Leverage our extensive and influential alumni network in Washington, D.C., and other centers of foreign policy, global development, and international relations.

Fill out this short form to get more information. Your exclusive advisor will be in touch within one business day to guide you through the application process, the program details, how to finance your education, and your career options.

Policy and Development

Launch a career in local and global policy and development. Our Master of Arts in International Policy and Development (IPD) is a 42-credit program that can be completed in 12 or 16 months. You will take courses in person at our Monterey, California campus and have numerous opportunities to take advantage of our Washington, D.C. office.

Your classes will often feature work with real clients, allowing you to develop practical skills before you graduate. Your case studies, class projects, intercultural training, and language studies will enrich you with local, regional, and global contexts.

 

Experiential Learning

We prepare you for long-term professional success through courses in organizational development, leadership, and strategy. You will gain real-world experience through your final semester practicum working for an organization like the United Nations, the U.S. State Department, or a range of NGOs and private companies.

You will learn to effectively engage in all facets of the policy process by engaging in intimate discussions, hands-on projects, and fieldwork that may take you as far as Kenya or as close as the challenges in central California.

Why Study at the Middlebury Institute?

Advance Your Career

Your career and academic advising are integrated, so your courses will align with your career goals.

Gain Professional Experience

Be fully immersed in the field through real-world class projects, internships, and a professional practicum.

Build Global Proficiency

Take content courses in intercultural competence and a second language, expanding your career opportunities.

Learn Real Solutions for Today’s Development Challenges

Practical Skills for International Development

“Several courses each semester will require students to prepare a client deliverable. And therefore, students develop skills very quickly in how to communicate with the client: how to listen carefully, how to develop products that actually meet real client needs.” – Professor Beryl Levinger

Fieldwork: Put Theory into Practice

“At the Middlebury Institute, they ground everything in experiential learning. So we not only theorize about development, we are actually able to go in the field, work with a local client, and see what it is like to actually design programming to solve real issues.” – Castelline Tilus (student)