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Student Profiles
at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies
The latest academic year is one for the record book: record enrollments, record credit hours and record applications. Demand for AYSPS programs and degrees, particularly at the graduate level, far outstripped supply in 2003. “We get far more qualified applicants than we can admit,” said Sue Fagan, director of Academic and Administrative Services.
In scholarship, instruction, research, public service, graduate and undergraduate education, AYSPS is either in or moving into the top ranks of policy schools nationally.
-excerpted from 2003 issues of The Briefing
The student population in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies not only reflects, but sets the pace for the diversity of cultures and people evident on the Georgia State University campus and around metro Atlanta. In addition to attracting its fair share of domestic students, the School is becoming known around the world for its academic excellence: more than a third of its graduate students are now international. They hail from as many as 50 countries, enriching the classroom with world views from countries as diverse as Korea, Romania, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Spain and South Africa.
The School continues to expand and diversify. Students enrolled in the School’s degree programs increased 11 percent from Fall Semester 2002 to 2003, with more than a 15 percent increase in graduate applicants. Students from within the U.S. represent nearly half the states. The School is beginning to get a good deal of attention for the quality of its undergraduate programs, with an enrollment of 507 undergraduates and 438 graduates by fall 2003.
Many of the international students who attend AYSPS are sponsored by prestigious scholarship programs. In 2003, the School again served as a host institution for the Edmund Muskie Freedom Support Act Fellowship program of the American Councils for International Education, the USAID-funded Indonesian Scholars Program and the Fulbright program of the Institute of International Education (IIE), among others.
In This Page
Undergraduate Students
The popularity of AYSPS majors in economics (72 BS, BA and 121 BBA), urban policy studies (247) and human resources policy (164) continues to increase, with the School’s B.S. in Urban Policy Studies program constituting the largest group of undergraduates. There were nearly 700 undergraduate majors in Fall 2003. Many choose to enroll in AYSPS degree programs to better their careers in the public sector. The male/female ratio is approximately half and half, with women making up a slightly higher percentage; nearly half of the undergraduate students are minority or international students.
New Master's Students
The AYSPS master’s degree students continued to lead diversity on the Georgia State campus and in the city of Atlanta: (need new percentages here for 2003) approximately 56% are female; 44% are male; 47% of our master’s degree students are minority and/or international. Majors in public administration continue to constitute the largest group of graduate students, with 183 in Fall 2003. Most students have full-time jobs and are eager to bring the perspectives gained in their work experiences into the classroom.
Twenty students were enrolled in the final year of the Indonesian Masters program. Sponsored by USAID-Jakarta, this is a fifteen-month program of masters degree training in economics for Indonesian students who will return to positions of leadership in policy analysis. These students are listed in the “Masters Program” section.
Doctoral Students
The Andrew Young School admitted 21 new students to the Ph.D. in Economics program and 9 new students to the Ph.D. in Public Policy in the fall. The Department of Economics hosted a campus visit for prospective students early in the year, as well as a day-long Ph.D. orientation and luncheon. Students who joined the joint Public Policy program were welcomed at receptions held at GSU and Georgia Institute of Technology.
AYSPS in 2003 had 73 students enrolled in the Ph.D. in Economics program, an increase of 26 percent over fall 2002, and 34 in the joint Ph.D. in Public Policy. For more information on these students, go to the “Doctoral Programs” section of this report.
