Rows of solar panels installed on a Harvard Kennedy School rooftop, with the red brick buildings of the HKS campus and the Cambridge skyline in the background.

Harvard Kennedy School explores big issues

We address public challenges in real time through path-breaking research and policy solutions.

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Master’s Programs

Master’s Programs

One- and two-year master’s degree programs in public policy or public administration prepare students to lead.

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Executive Education

Executive Education

Short, intensive open-enrollment and custom programs, on campus and online, that equip public leaders to tackle urgent challenges, build new skills, and drive change.

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Doctoral Programs

Full-time PhD programs in public, health, and social policy prepare candidates for careers in academia, research, or policymaking.

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Public Leadership Credential

Public Leadership Credential

A series of online courses that builds leadership and policymaking skills, with the potential to serve as a pathway to a future master’s degree.

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Climate & Environment

A firefighter works to extinguish a forest fire burning in the mountains of a rural area.

We’re closer to breaching Paris climate limits than we thought—but nations can still make change

According to new research from HKS Professor John Holdren and others in One Earth, we’re 25% closer to breaching the goals than we thought. Holdren and his coauthors suggest we’ll instead pass a 1.5 degree rise by 2030 and a 2 degree increase by 2046.

Aerial of Brazilian community showing a distinct division and imbalance between a tightly packed lower-income housing development and a sparsely populated wealthier neighborhood with ample green space.

Rethinking globalization to rebuild the middle class and save the planet

Professor Dani Rodrik lays out a new vision for globalization in his book “Shared Prosperity in a Fractured World: A New Economics for the Middle Class, the Global Poor, and Our Climate.”

Wolfram Schlenker: Bridging disciplines to understand the interplay between a changing climate, food, and economics

New Harvard Kennedy School faculty member Wolfram Schlenker conducts research on the effect of weather and climate on agricultural yields and global food prices.

Turning environmental leadership into policy in Massachusetts

Experiential learning with adjunct professor Rand Wentworth takes students into the MA State House to launch a ballot initiative to fund clean water and natural resources.

People carry solar panels through flooded fields

HKS faculty and alumni shaping global cooperation on climate

From research to outreach, Harvard Kennedy School expertise has helped structure international climate talks.

Cars move along Park Avenue in New York City.

Harvard Kennedy School experts analyze the potential effects of environmental policy deregulation

The Trump Administration seeks to end the 'endangerment finding' that has enabled controls on greenhouse gases and fossil fuel emissions. Harvard Kennedy School faculty examine what that could mean.

Zanny Minton Beddoes MPA 1992 to give 2026 HKS graduation address on May 27

Zanny Minton Beddoes has led The Economist since 2015, when she became the first woman to hold the editor-in-chief position in the publication's more than 180-year history.