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President Johnson addresses the LBJ School on December 4, 1972

About the LBJ School

The LBJ School of Public Affairs, a graduate component of The University of Texas at Austin, offers professional training in public policy analysis and administration for students interested in pursuing careers in government and public affairs-related areas of the private and nonprofit sectors. The LBJ School has a proud tradition of commitment to public service in its highest sense: service aimed at improving the human condition.

Our degree programs include a Masters of Public Affairs(M.P.Aff), a mid-career M.P.Aff sequence, ten M.P.Aff dual degrees programs, a Master of Global Policy Studies(MGPS) and a Ph.D. in Public Policy. The School also sponsors a variety of non-degree professional development programs for public administrators and elected officials.

The LBJ School's faculty members represent a variety of academic disciplines, ranging from political science and economics to engineering and community and regional planning. The curriculum combines coursework in political economics, public financial management, and analytic methods with a practical application sequence that includes client-oriented policy research projects and agency internships. Accredited by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration, the School was ranked tenth in the nation among schools of public affairs by U.S. News and World Report in its rankings of university programs.

Mission

To develop leaders and ideas that will help our state, the nation and the international community address critical public policy challenges in an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world.

Executive Officers

James B. Steinberg, Dean

Robert Wilson, Associate Dean for Academics

Jeffery Patterson, Assistant Dean for Operations

Susan Binford, Assistant Dean for Communications

Barry Bales, Assistant Dean for Professional Development

Ken Matwiczak, Graduate Adviser

LBJ School Profile

Student enrollment at the LBJ School for 2006-07 stands at 360 students, 284 of which are Master's students (57 in Dual Degree programs) and 28 students in the Ph.D. in Public Policy Program. We have an ethnically and culturally diverse student body, 60 percent of whom are Texas residents, while 40 percent come from across the country and globe. Some of the countries represented by the school include Argentina, Austria, Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, France, India, Italy, Mexico, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Tajikistan, and Uganda. Our students represent a diversity of academic disciplines, from Political Science and Economics to History and Mexican-American Studies.

Faculty Profile

The LBJ School boasts a distinguished faculty of 39 Permanent professors and more than a dozen extended and visiting faculty. Their areas of instruction and research run the gamut of public affairs policy topics, including international affairs, health and social programs, education and labor, urban affairs and administration, nonprofit management, economics, ethical leadership, U.S.-Mexico border issues, environment, transportation, and global technology and trade policy.

The faculty also represent a broad range of professional experience, with a former U.S. Secretary of Labor (Ray Marshall), former Deputy National Security Adviser (James Steinberg), Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (Edwin Dorn), a past Director of the National Security Agency and Deputy Director of Central Intelligence (Bobby R. Inman), and a former Texas State Senator (Max Sherman) and a State Representative (Sherri Greenberg).

Alumni Profile

The school has graduated more than 2,600 students since its first class of 1972, as well as a total of 26 Phd graduates since 1996. Alumni of the LBJ School have made their marks in a number of public policy and public affairs fields. Some 48 percent of our graduates enter the public service, with 37 percent taking positions in the private sector and 15 percent in nonprofit organizations. Some of our alumni include Bill Owens, former Governor of Colorado; Rodney Ellis, Texas State Senator; Mee Moua, Minnesota State Senator; Diana Guzman Cummings, former Llano County Treasurer; David Nielsen, Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Albert Hawkins, Texas Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner; and Ken Apfel, former U.S. Commissioner of the Social Security Administration.

Accreditation & National Ranking

Accredited by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Public Administration (NASPAA). The LBJ School was ranked 10th in the nation by U.S. News & World Report in its most recent poll of master's programs in public affairs. The School has consistently earned a place in the magazine's Top Ten list since public affairs programs were added to the rankings in 1995.

The University of Texas at Austin

Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs