RAND's Graduate School Changes Its Name and Expands Reach
For Release
Monday
April 7, 2025
RAND's graduate school is now the RAND School of Public Policy, highlighting its strong connection to RAND and focus on providing advanced education in policy analysis with a rigorous, unbiased approach. The name change occurs as the school has expanded across two locations, strengthening opportunities for engagement between students and a wide range of policymakers and employers across the nation.
This academic year, the school launched a one-year Master of National Security Policy program with nearly 100 students enrolled. This fall, it will introduce another master's program focused on technology policy.
Both programs will be offered at the Santa Monica headquarters and in RAND's Washington, D.C., office, bringing the total number of academic programs to four.
“Our goal is to ignite students' passion to confront today's policy challenges and drive tomorrow's breakthroughs, with innovative programs that inspire real change,” said Nancy Staudt, Dean of the RAND School of Public Policy and Vice President, RAND.
RAND will continue to honor the legacy of Fred Pardee, whose philanthropy was instrumental to the school's growth. The Pardee RAND Graduate School will continue to operate under the broader umbrella of the RAND School of Public Policy and will remain the home of the Ph.D. program that bears his name: the Frederick S. Pardee Ph.D. in Policy Analysis.
The school has been training policy leaders and strategists for more than 55 years. Its integration with RAND makes it unique, providing students with strong academics and real-world experience. To date, more than 500 students have completed their Ph.D. and MPhil., and, with the expansion in master's programs, the school is positioned for steady growth.
Among graduates since 2009, nearly all landed employment within six months of graduation in fields directly related to policy analysis. Distinguished alumni include Arthur Brooks, former president of the American Enterprise Institute; Julia Pollak, chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor; Robert Otto Valdez, former director of the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; and Silvia Montoya, director of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
Visit www.rand.edu for more details.
