Columbia’s University Senate has approved SIPA’s establishment of a dual degree in São Paulo, Brazil with the Fundação Getulio Vargas Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (FGV). Pending approval from the state of New York, SIPA and FGV plan to enroll the first class in the fall of 2010.
SIPA and FGV have designed a unified two-year curriculum, drawing on each school’s strengths, cultures and traditions. During their first year of study, students will complete the core curriculum in public policy in New York or São Paulo, developing analytical skills in economics, statistics, and political systems and gaining an overview of public and nonprofit management. Students will then move to the partner school for a second year of study during which they can choose from a wide array of public policy and business fields to develop a specialization, and graduate with a degree from both institutions. SIPA already offers dual degrees in partnership with Sciences Po Paris, the London School of Economics and Political Science, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, and Hertie School of Governance in Berlin.
Additionally, SIPA is in the process of developing new exchange programs in Moscow, Cairo, and Mexico City, and a program with INSEAD, one of the world’s leading and largest graduate business schools, with campuses in France, Singapore and Abu Dhabi. These partnerships will complement SIPA’s existing exchange programs with Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE) in Mexico City, the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Public Policy, and the School of Finance at Renmin University in China. The exchange programs allow students to transfer credits toward their degree at SIPA.
Since 2006, SIPA has participated in the Global Public Policy Network (GPPN), a partnership between Columbia University, Sciences Po Paris, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. The mission of the GPPN is to address the most pressing public policy challenges of the 21st century. It aims to have policy impact, be influential in public policy education and training, and to be innovative in teaching and research through dual degree programs, student and faculty exchanges, collaborative research and publications, and more.
Bill de Blasio (MIA ’87) was elected New York City public advocate in the 2009 general election. De Blasio previously served as a New York City councilman, worked in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and managed Hillary Rodham Clinton’s 2000 campaign for the U.S. Senate. Read more from the 
Eight students from SIPA are attending the 4th GPPN Student Conference titled “Crisis as Opportunity – What Policies Do We Need for Sustainable Development Today?” which takes place from November 11-13 at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore.
