In 1938, NYU offered its first Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree in response to overfilled public service-oriented classes at the university. Fifteen years later, NYU established a stand-alone school—the School for Public Service and Social Work.[2] At around the same time, Robert Ferdinand Wagner Jr., as Mayor of New York City, worked to build public housing and schools, and established the right for city employees to collectively bargain. Wagner also made housing discrimination based on race, creed, or color illegal in New York City.[3] In 1989, NYU renamed the school the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service in honor of the three-term mayor after receiving a major donation from Marshall Manley, Ray Chambers, and Walter Annenberg.[4]
In 2004, NYU Wagner relocated to the Puck Building, a New York City landmark in the city's SoHo neighborhood.[5]
The school operates several research centers, institutes, and initiatives.
Programs
In addition to offerings in the NYU Wagner course listings, students are eligible to cross-register for many courses at the other graduate and professional schools at NYU.
NYU Wagner offers the following Undergraduate Minors in partnership with several New York University schools:
Social Entrepreneurship
Public Policy and Management
Social and Public Policy
Multifaith and Spiritual Leadership
Combined Bachelor's and master's degree programs at NYU Wagner allow students to complete undergraduate and graduate degrees in five years instead of the traditional six. Combined dual-degree BA-MPA programs include:
The BA-MUP with the College of Arts and Science allows New York University undergraduates majoring in Economics, International Relations, Metropolitan Studies, Politics, Sociology, or Urban Design and Architecture who have completed most of their undergraduate degrees to take graduate courses and receive the Master's in Urban Planning.
The BA-MUP with the NYU Tandon School of Engineering allows New York University Tandon undergraduates majoring in Sustainable Urban Environments, Construction Management, or Civil Engineering who have earned a GPA of 3.0 or higher to take graduate courses and receive the Master's in Urban Planning.
Capstone project
All MPA and MUP students are required to complete a team-based Capstone project where they turn their classroom learning into practice to help nonprofit, public, and private sector organizations tackle a critical challenge.
Alan Altshuler, Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation (1972-1975)
Doug Band, founding partner and president of Teneo (2011- )
Derek Bryson Park, Director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York (1999-2002), Commissioner of the New York City Commission on Human Rights (2000-2014)
Roberto Antonio Cabrera y Rodriguez, Deputy Director of the General Directorate for Evaluation of Governance Scenarios in the Mexican Secretariat of the Interior (2022- )