Reimagined for Real Impact: GGPS
American University’s School of International Service is now accepting applications for fall 2025 and beyond for our revamped Master’s in Global Governance, Politics, and Security (GGPS) program, offering an immersive curriculum focused on global perspectives, interdisciplinary exploration, and data analytics—tools that will prepare the next generation of students for careers of impact after they leave SIS.
These curricular revisions are designed to offer our students enhanced flexibility, allowing them to pursue intersectional areas of interest in the realm of international affairs. The GGPS program is unveiling four new specialized tracks to equip students with the expertise to address pressing international challenges: Global Security; Multilateral Diplomacy & Global Governance; States, Society, & Politics; and International Economic Policy.
The revamped program also places explicit emphasis on skills-based training through professional methods courses, expanding students’ skillsets to align with the needs of the ever-changing policy landscape.
Students can also choose to pursue our STEM degree within the GGPS program—the newly-named GGPS: Quantitative Economic Methods (QEM) program. This STEM-designation reflects SIS’s commitment to train students with the economic tools and data analytics for evidence-based solutions to today’s most critical policy issues.
SIS faculty reimagined the GGPS program based in part on an expansive survey of international affairs employers. The results of the survey delivered a clear message: employers are seeking graduates who take a data-driven and evidence-based approach to their work. This revised GGPS program will provide students with comprehensive expertise and foundational analytical skills that will prepare them for success from day one of their careers.
“At SIS, we make sure our curricula move and change with the times, so that our graduates are well-prepared to become leaders in their respective fields,” Dean Shannon Hader said. “This means combining a rigorous and broad knowledge base along with the flexibility to specialize and to gain experience in a specific area.The revised GGPS program makes it easier to do just that—so that our graduates ‘stand out’ when they take their next steps into private sector, nonprofits, or government.”
About GGPS
At its core, the GGPS curriculum provides students with foundational knowledge in global politics and international economics. The program also emphasizes training in data analytics, management, and communication through professional methods courses, preparing students to translate data into actionable and evidence-based policy solutions.
One of the topline revisions to the GGPS curriculum includes the introduction of a new course that blends economics and statistics and trains students in data analytics—skills that will make students highly marketable when they enter the workforce, SIS professor and Director of Graduate Studies for the Department of Politics, Governance & Economics Jennifer Poole explained.
“The new economics for international affairs course will not only give students some of the basic macro- and micro-economics that are essential for foreign policy and international affairs, but it will also give them some strong database management skills,” Poole said. “Students will learn how to use data, download data, and manipulate data.”
After completing core courses, GGPS students will choose from four concentration areas: Global Security, Multilateral Diplomacy & Global Governance, States, Society & Politics, and International Economic Policy. Students also choose a secondary concentration, offering enhanced specialization and flexibility for students who want to tailor their degree to specific interests.
“This is a very flexible, generalist international affairs degree, and students can craft the curriculum that best meets their goals and their future employers’ needs, and we are here to help them do that,” Poole said.
With double the number of concentrations previously offered and the option to choose a secondary specialization, the revised GGPS curriculum has “optimized flexibility” that will train students with the skills and expertise employers are seeking, SIS professor Mike Schroeder said.
“[Employers] want people who are systematic thinkers. They may come in with their own ideas, but they take it to the data before they go out and ask decision makers to follow their recommendations,” Schroeder said. “So you’re going to see graduates who have a skill set that gives them an advantage on day one. Our mission is to produce international affairs professionals who are really going to be makingevidence-based policy recommendations and analyses. And as a result, we think they're going to get noticed, rise through the ranks, and make a positive difference in the lives of the people they serve. We think that is what it means to be a graduate school of international service in the 21st century.”
About GGPS: QEM
Students pursuing the new GGPS: QEM (STEM) degree will receive comprehensive training in econometrics and broader quantitative methods. The program begins with the same foundational courses in global politics and international economics and includes nine credits in econometrics and quantitative research methods. Students in the program will focus the majority of their study on economics classes offered at SIS but will also have the option to pursue international finance and economics electives through the Kogod School of Business or the College of Arts & Sciences. The program also gives students the option to choose a secondary concentration in Global Security, Multilateral Diplomacy & Global Governance, States, Society & Politics, and International Economic Policy.
Students in the program will graduate with the skills to shape policy outcomes with data-driven solutions.
“I think this program will open up a lot more professional opportunities for our students,” Schroeder said. “Students who come out with deep quantitative skills and know how to perform impact evaluation in any sector of international affairs should walk away with multiple offers on the table.”
As a STEM degree, the GGPS: QEM degree also enables F-1 international students to receive up to a 24-month extension of Optional Practical Training (OPT) in the United States.
Ready to apply or want to learn more? Fill out the Request for Information form below!