Director: Assistant Dean Sara Faherty (sara.faherty@utoronto.ca)

The Faculty of Law and the School of Public Policy and Governance are pleased to announce the launch of this combined degree program at the start of the 2011-2012 academic year.

The combined JD/Masters in Public Policy levers the considerable synergies between the study of law and that of public policy, ranging from economic and social policy issues to international matters.  The combination of these two degree programs allows students in each of the Faculty of Law and the School of Public Policy and Governance to profit from a far richer offering of highly relevant courses and associated intellectual discourses than would be permitted by each degree program offered discretely. The combination of these degree programs will provide students with an opportunity to integrate public policy considerations into their study of the law and, in turn, add a legal perspective into their study of public policy. 

 The combined program permits the completion of both degree programs in four years, rather than the five years that it would take to complete them independently.  Applicants must apply to and be accepted into each program separately.  Students must satisfy both the JD and the MPP requirements before either degree may be conferred.

Taken independently, the JD program would require completion of the first-year Law program plus 56 law credits in upper-year courses, while the MPP would require 8.0 FCEs over two years.

The combined program requires:

  • Year 1,  the completion of the first-year Law program;
  • Year 2, the completion of the first year MPP program with the exception of PPG 2001H (in the second year of the combined degree), in place of which students will add one upper level Law course; that upper level Law course will be counted towards the fulfillment of a student's MPP degree requirements, rather than the fulfillment of the J.D. requirements. Students register through the MPP program for this course and it will be graded on the MPP/SGS scale. 
  • Years 3 and 4, a total of 45 law credits and 4 half courses in public policy which meet all requirements in upper years.  

The combined program uses the existing procedures and services for admissions, registration, courses and advising provided by the Faculty of Law and the School of Public Policy and Governance.