Info for Students

First Year and J-Term MIA/MPA and MPA-DP students: Capstone Workshop Preference First Year Survey is now Available

The SIPA Capstone Workshop Preference Survey is intended to be completed by all first year and fall graduate students in MIA and MPA degree programs (other than Development and Governance students who have their own survey that will be sent from the D/G Director). This is an important tool that allows students to directly voice their opinion for the development of the next round of Capstone workshops. The survey asks students to rank order their preferences of past Capstone clients and topics and to suggest new clients/topics for the next academic year. 

The survey should take no more than 10 minutes to complete and will be available from February 10 - 24. Students are welcome to list any organization or company that is of interest; it is not necessary to restrict your selection to past clients or topics or to those available within your concentration. Students are then asked to consider what organizations and topics would be of interest for a Capstone project in the coming year.  

Please note: we will make every effort to satisfy the demands of the students; however it may not be possible to accommodate every workshop request. Unfortunately, a number of factors in addition to student demand influence whether a particular organization partners with SIPA for a workshop, such as the interest and ability of the organization to engage the time and resources necessary to participate in a workshop.

Complete the Capstone Workshop Preference Survey here.

Information for Capstone Students, MIA, MPA, and MPA-DP

A core requirement for the Master of International Affairs (MIA), Master of Public Administration (MPA), and Master of Public Affairs in Development Practice (MPA-DP),  the Capstone Workshops give students an opportunity to put learning into practice. Serving as a culminating educational experience for the Master of International Affairs and Master of Public Administration degree programs, students in all of the concentrations complete a Capstone workshop in their final semester. Students in the Development and Governance concentration formerly the Economic and Political Development Concentration – satisfy the capstone requirement by participating in the Capstone Workshop in Sustainable Development Practice in their last semester.)  Students are organized into small consulting teams (between 4 to 8 students per team) and assigned a substantive, policy-oriented project with an external client. Clients include public agencies (from the local to national level), international NGOs and multinational organizations, and major firms in the private sector—recent examples include Booz Allen Hamilton, Citi Global Wealth Management, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Mercy Corps, New York City Mayor’s Office, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), UNICEF, and the World Bank Group. Student teams, working under the supervision of a faculty expert, answer a carefully defined problem posed by the client. Each team produces an actionable report and an oral briefing of their findings at the close of the Capstone that is designed to translate into real change on the ground.

SIPA Capstone Workshops are available to MIA, MPA and MPA-DP students.

For information on the application process, timeline, and general information, please refer to our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page for students.

For more information on the Fall Short Course, please refer to our Frequent Asked Questions (FAQs).

2025- 2026 Capstone Workshops

Capstone Workshops Requirements by Program

The following degree programs include capstone workshops as part of their curriculum. See the degree program pages for more details.
Master of International Affairs (MIA) »
Master of Public Affairs (MPA) »
Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science Policy (MPA-ESP) »