[edit]US Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr speaks at the American University School of Public Affairs graduation ceremony in 2024
The School of Public Affairs was created on March 3, 1934 with a $4,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to provide training to 80 promising young federal government employees in downtown Washington, D.C. By 1937, its enrollment had grown to more than 1,000 students, and it had expanded its mission to include undergraduate and graduate degrees.
SPA's institutional role shifted several times over the next twenty years. In 1957, it was renamed the School of Government and Public Administration, and in 1973, it was combined with the existing Schools of Justice and International Service to become the College of Public and International Affairs. In 1988, the School of International Service was recreated as a freestanding school, and the College of Public and International Affairs was once again the School of Public Affairs.[1]
The dean's office, department offices, and most faculty are located in Kerwin Hall. The executive education programs occupy the Watkins building, and some faculty and staff have offices in Hurst Hall.[2]
DPAP's programs are routinely recognized by U.S. News & World Report as being among the top 20 in the country. In the 2020 ranking of graduate schools of public affairs, the department's masters programs are ranked 13th.[4]
The Department of Government is home to 40 full-time faculty members[3] and focuses primarily on offering undergraduate political science courses to its nearly 1,500 major students. It also serves more than 110 graduate students.
The Department of Justice, Law & Criminology is home to 27 full-time faculty, more than 450 undergraduates, and approximately 230 graduate students.[3] JLC is home to AU's mock trial team, which has become a nationally competitive squad under the guidance of head coach Mike Romano.[8]
