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MPS in International Development: Degree Requirements

Must Complete:

A candidate for the Master of Professional Studies (MPS) in International Development (ID) degree must complete the following items to be eligible to graduate:

  • A minimum of 2 semesters of coursework, in residence, for a total of 30 credit hours. One unit may be earned by successfully completing a minimum of 12 credit hours in a single semester.
  • Out of the 30 credits, 18 must be for a letter grade and 24 must be in graduate courses or seminars 4000 and higher. 12 of the 24 hours must encompass a concentration (international nutrition, international planning, international population, science and technology policy, or development policy in some designated area) and the other 12 hours must fall into the following areas of analysis: development administration and planning, development economics, development politics, development sociology, or international communications. Students with sufficient prior training in some of these areas of analysis take courses in other areas to round out their analytical and action skills.
  • A petition to the MPS committee for exceptions to credit hour requirements may be submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies. English language courses will not normally be considered toward the credits required for the degree.
  • A maximum of 6 credit hours earned outside the program at Cornell University or elsewhere may be counted toward requirements at the discretion of the Special Committee. These credits must be appropriate to the subject of the chosen field of study and completed not more than 5 years prior to admission.
  • Submit an approved problem-solving project paper. The aim of the project is to give students supervised experience in dealing intellectually and analytically with a professional problem related to a substantive area of international development. The project can be based either on library or fieldwork. The subject must be approved in advance by the student’s Special Graduate Committee. Students are eligible to receive a maximum of 6 credit hours for acceptable projects that can be used towards the required 30 credit hours if necessary.

MPS Global Development (ALS & ID) Handbook

See Handbook [PDF] for detailed degree requirements.

Ready to Graduate?

If you have completed the degree requirements above and are ready to graduate, the following steps must be completed:

  • Visit the Graduate School website for degree conferral dates and deadlines.
  • Obtain project paper approval from your Special Committee, including completion of the Thesis Approval Form.
  • Fill out the Graduate School’s Graduation Manager feature (you will need to login with your NetID and password).
    • Submit degree information for section 1 and choose "My degree does not require the submission of a thesis or dissertation to The Graduate School." On section 2, click “next” and then “submit” to complete the process.
  • Verify that your paper’s minimum formatting requirements are met. Visit the Graduate School’s website for formatting requirements and templates.
  • Submit final, formatted paper and a copy of your Thesis Approval Form to the ID Graduate Field Assistant for final field approval.
  • When the approval process is complete, send a pdf of your project paper to libcopycenter@cornell.edu (CU Olin Library Copy Center, B41 Olin ) and provide your Student I.D. number to have it printed and bound. Inform them when you place the order that you will be providing a signed Approval of Thesis Form. The charge for printing and binding will be added to your Bursar bill. You are required to provide 2 bound copies of your project paper to the GFA with the signature of your Committee Chair in the upper right hand corner of the Abstract page. One copy will be archived by the field and one will be submitted to your advisor.