About five years ago, faculty members in the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin–Madison started offering classes to undergraduate students.
Soon, more students were interested in taking public policy classes than there were courses.
“Public policy across the country is really growing wildly at the undergraduate level,” said La Follette School Director Susan Webb Yackee. “So student demand here at UW-Madison matches student demand and a lot of other college campuses across the country.”
News with a little more humanity
WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” newsletter keeps you connected to the state you love without feeling overwhelmed. No paywall. No agenda. No corporate filter.
In fall 2026, UW-Madison will launch the state’s first undergraduate major in public policy.
Students will be able to earn a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science in public policy from La Follette.
Yackee said many students will likely continue to graduate programs or law school. But the undergraduate degree will provide a path for careers in government, nonprofits, consulting, advocacy and business, Yackee said.
A foundational course for the new degree, Advancing Public Policy in a Divided America, will debut in the spring.
The program will be distinct from other public policy undergraduate programs around the country in that its curriculum will focus on civil dialogue, working across differences and finding common ground.
The course will help students think about public policy as part of everyday life and value civil dialogue, Yackee said.
“Our point here is not to change anybody’s values, but to have students exercise their intellectual muscles to hear different points of view with the hope that when they enter into the workforce, they will be more amenable and curious about other points of view,” Yackee said.
More than 3,250 students have earned master’s degrees from La Follette.
Beginning in 2019, La Follette began offering undergraduate certificates. More than 750 undergraduates have since graduated with certificates in public policy or health policy.
In the 2024-25 academic year, a record 1,060 students enrolled in La Follette undergraduate courses.
Based on those numbers, Yackee anticipates about 50 students will enroll in the undergraduate major in the first year. But within five years of implementation, she expects the major to be one of the top 20 majors on campus.
“We have spent years building toward this watershed moment in our school’s history,” Yackee says.
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2025, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.
