The University of Wisconsin-Madison announced a new Public Policy Bachelor’s degree in the La Follette School of Public Affairs next fall — the first program of its kind in Wisconsin — at what school leaders call a pivotal time for “civil dialogue.”
Susan Yackee, the director of the La Follette School of Public Affairs, told The Daily Cardinal the major will help educate and inform “a new generation of leaders given the immense partisanship and divided nature of our current society.”
“We really think that this major sort of meets the political moment right now,” Yackee said.
While UW-Madison offers majors in political science and international studies and a minor in public policy, the public policy Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees will explore policy analysis, strategic communication, civil discourse and evidence-based decision-making, according to the school’s website.
Yackee believes the major will be the first of its kind not only in Wisconsin but in the country.
“We looked across many of our peer competitor policy schools as we were thinking about what ought to be created, and one of the things that we identified is the skills of talking across political differences and encouraging students to learn how to debate and discuss controversial public policy issues,” Yackee said. “While many of our schools offer classes like that across the country, none of them, to our knowledge, have a requirement that those skills be part of their undergraduate majors.”
This announcement follows the University of Wisconsin System’s Board of Regents vote in July to approve an undergraduate major in public policy.
In order to declare the major, students take one “core” course, such as Public Affairs 200 or 230, and 30 additional credits in the department, including an internship or workshop class. Yackee said there is no distinction between the BA and BS programs besides university requirements.
The department has not added new courses yet, but an “Advancing Public Policy in a Divided America” course debuted in spring 2025, where students “use and learn skills where they can talk to people who think differently than them and try to advance interests that can benefit society as a whole.” This course will be a foundational requirement for the major.
The course also focused on hands-on learning. In spring 2025, the class hosted State Rep. Shelia Stubbs, D–Madison, and State Rep. Robert Wittke, R–Caledonia, to share perspectives on representing constituents even when they disagree with them and working in a divided state government.
Some public policy courses will have students teamed up with real world clients, such as nonprofit organizations or city governments needing policy analysis, according to Yackee.
The major will also have several specialization opportunities in different courses, like climate justice, education reform, health equity and economic development, according to the La Follette School’s website.
While the majority of the courses will be taught by current La Follette faculty, there will also be six new faculty members hired for the major under the RISE-EARTH and RISE-THRIVE university programs. Four of the six have already been hired, specializing across several areas including health policy, poverty and income assistance programs, housing policy, and China and its politics and policies, according to Yackee.
Yackee said the major is also recruiting two other faculty members — one in sustainability and environmental politics and policy and another in health and aging.
Although the public policy certificate is relatively new — introduced within the past 6 years — students within the program inspired the new major and guaranteed turnout. According to Yackee, about 70% of students surveyed by the department said they were more likely to add a Public Policy major than a certificate.
“The demand and the interest is there amongst our undergraduate students here in Wisconsin,” Yackee said in a YouTube video announcing the launch of the major. “We’re so thrilled to be actually meeting that demand and meeting it with a curriculum that’s going to change the world and make it a better place.”
Yackee said a major hurdle is meeting student demand for the program amid university-wide budget cuts. All departments were instructed to reduce their budgets by 5-10% this past year.
“That's something that we've tried to think very creatively about, and we've been very successful in raising philanthropy to support students and believe that we'll have to continue to do that to inspire further investment in our school,” Yackee said.
Interested students can sign up to receive updates on the major on the La Follette School webpage for public policy. General advising sessions are also available for scheduling and the What-if DARS report and info sessions will be available in spring 2026.
