McCourt School of Public Policy

The McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University is located in Washington, D.C. The McCourt School offers one undergraduate degree, five master's degree programs, nine dual degrees, global learning opportunities in a range of destinations, and certificate and other executive education programming. The McCourt School has 52 full-time faculty members, 54 research faculty members and fellows, more than 100 affiliated faculty members, and approximately 500 enrolled students across the various degree and executive education programs.

In the summer of 2024, the McCourt School relocated to 125 E Street NW at Georgetown's Capitol Campus. Formerly known as the Georgetown Public Policy Institute (GPPI), the McCourt School became Georgetown University's ninth school in October 2013 as a result of a $100 million gift from Georgetown University alumnus Frank McCourt.

History

The idea of establishing a public policy school in Washington, D.C. originated in the Georgetown University Department of Government and Economics in the late 1970s.

In 1980, the Government Department instituted a certificate program and in 1982 hired two junior faculty members to teach courses in public policy. For the next five years, the Public Policy Program expanded, granting a master's degree program in government with a concentration in public policy to approximately 15 students. In 1985, the Government Department hired the first part-time director to help establish the framework for the Public Policy Program. By the late 1980s, enrollment in the program had grown to about 75 students.

In 1990, the new president of Georgetown University, Father Leo O'Donovan, S.J., prioritized the expansion of the Public Policy Program under the direction of the program's first full-time director, Colin Campbell S.J., a Georgetown professor of philosophy and politics.