Fast Track to Impact: AU Launches DC’s First In-Person, Standalone Three-Year Policy Degree

When faculty reviewed applications for American University’s new 90-credit bachelor’s degree in applied public policy analysis, they found four distinct motivations running through the essays. There’s the analyst searching for hard empirical evidence, the future public servant examining how institutions function, the advocate arming community passion with data and statistics, and the problem-solver eager to translate policy ideas into actionable remedies on the ground.

To program director Marquise McGraw, those four archetypes capture the quintessential AU student. 

“Our ideal student is highly focused and highly motivated,” said McGraw. “They know they want to be in the public policy sphere, and they want to make an impact—not so much on the political side of things, but through evidence, really taking a deep look into public policy and how to make their mark on the world.”

Housed in the No. 12-ranked School of Public Affairs, the program—known as AU90—soft-launches in spring 2027 with a cohort of nine currently enrolled Eagle. It will expand to incoming first-year and transfer applicants in fall 2027. 

Trimming 30 elective credits off the traditional 120-credit bachelor’s, the condensed format marks the first 90-credit undergraduate degree in the Washington, DC, region—and the first nationwide focused specifically on public policy analysis. A key component of AU’s five year strategic plan, Meet Our Moment, adopted in February, the program fast-tracks careers across public service, think tanks, and civic leadership.

Jin Hyun, SPA/BA ’29, MA ’30, is among the inaugural cohort. His interest in public service took root early, from a junior-year semester at DC’s School for Ethics and Global Leadership to working on state-level election campaigns as a high school senior. Still, translating that passion into a college major proved elusive.

“I knew I generally liked seeing how data and diverse perspectives could improve people’s lives through policy, programs, and regulation,” Hyun said. “However, I didn’t know how to verbalize that into an area of study, let alone into a target job—until I was introduced to this program.”

Originally enrolled as a political science major, Hyun quickly pivoted when he saw how AU90 combined foundational theory with applied technical tools.

“What appealed to me about [AU90] was its flexible yet specialized education,” he said. “The fact that we can learn about everything from cost-benefit analysis to the practical applications of geospatial information systems is incredible.”

While more colleges and universities across the country are exploring three-year models, McGraw said that an accelerated schedule is designed to broaden student choice, not replace the classic undergraduate journey.

“I do not think the three-year degree is for everybody,” said McGraw, senior professorial lecturer in the Department of Public Administration and Policy. “There are plenty of students who come to college and need that time to explore, develop interests, take a class or two, and say, ‘Hey, this is something I didn’t know I was going to be interested in.’ For those students, I’m still going to recommend the four-year program.”

Instead, AU90 responds to students weighing their investments with sharper scrutiny. The condensed model offers an efficient path for highly focused first-years as well as nontraditional learners, including military veterans and adult students looking to transition smoothly into public service, think tanks, and civic leadership.

“To me, the future is offering a menu of options and letting students and their families choose what’s going to be best for them,” McGraw said.

That flexibility extends into graduate study. AU90 includes a 3+1 option, enabling students to complete both a bachelor’s and master’s degree public policy or public administration in four years while sharing credits to reduce tuition costs.

Despite the concentrated three-year timeline, the program also preserves the hallmarks of an AU education. Open summers leave time for study abroad and internships, including opportunities backed by the AU Ready Pledge, which provides up to $4,500 in support for unpaid or underpaid positions.

The condensed sequence feeds directly into a capital network where AU already holds an outsized footprint. 

Data compiled by the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment and released earlier this fall shows AU sends a higher share of graduates into federal jobs than regional rivals and national peers, including Georgetown, George Washington, Harvard, and Columbia, leading outright in Congress and within the Departments of State, Justice, Commerce, and Homeland Security.

Rather than starting from scratch, faculty built the program around existing strengths in SPA and the university’s liberal arts core. Undergraduates take government and AU Core classes alongside targeted policy seminars with full-time faculty.

“It wasn’t so much reinventing the wheel,” McGraw said. “It was: How can we build on top of the excellent foundation SPA already has, making sure this degree remains uniquely and authentically AU?”

With orientation events underway, faculty and students are preparing for the first cohort to start classes in January. 

“I love our students, and I’m super excited to get to know them,” McGraw said. “We want the empirical proof of how they develop and grow in this format—and that will come in three years when this first group graduates.”