KDI School of Public Policy and Management is a graduate school

Graduate school

A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...

 located in Dongdaemun-gu

Dongdaemun-gu

Dongdaemun-gu is one of the 25 gu of Seoul, South Korea. It is located to the north of the River Han. Its district office is in Yongdu-dong where is close to the underground station of branch of Line 2....

, South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

 affiliated to the Korea Development Institute

Korea Development Institute

The Korea Development Institute is an autonomous economic policy think tank that was set up by the South Korean government. The Institute was founded in 1971, during a period of fast economic growth, to provide research and analysis of economic policy decisions...

 (KDI).

History

The KDI is an autonomous economic policy think tank

Think tank

A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...

that was set up by the South Korean government in 1971 to provide research and analysis of economic policy decisions. With its caliber as Korea's leading think tank, Korea Development Institute established its Graduate school in 1997.

• The KDI School is designated as an APEC Education Hub (APEC Chile Conference)
• 2000 GMP (Global Master's Program) is established, enabling students to acquire dual degrees both at the KDI School and abroad
• The 1st Special Program on Economic Policy-Making is launched
• 2001 The KDI School is designated as the Korean hub of the World Bank's GDLN (Global Development Learning Network)

The KDI School is recognized throughout Korea and the world as a premier institution for research and learning.

Academic Programs

The KDI School offers several different academic programs:

• Master of Public Policy (MPP)
• Master of Public Policy in Economic Development (MPP/ED)
• Master of Public Policy in Public Management (MPP/PM)
• Ph.D. program
• Non-Degree certificate programs

Regarding its MBA program, which was the 2nd oldest and highly recognized MBA program in Korea to KAIST MBA, these degrees were abolished from 2010 along with its MFDI and MAM programs due to the dictation ordered by the South Korea's Prime Ministry Office.
South Korean Government's explanation of such decision was to make the school focus more on developmental public policies. Nevertheless, abolishing its very successful programs without any prior coordination had clearly revealed that the KDI and its affiliated school have structural vulnerability as government-funded institutes when highly political decision-makings take place.
Such limitations still remain today as a challenge to be overcome.

Student Body

It has over 620 International Alumni Network (Among 79 Nations) since 1997 and double degree programs with 32 top-notched universities globally. The school also offers in 100 % English lectures with globally renown faculties in their fields. The student body is drawn from a highly selective pool of government officials, business managers and exceptional students from Korea and abroad. The majority of students are mid-career professionals with 5-10 years of working experience in government, business, NGOs, media or academia. International students account for around 25% of the student body, further promoting the internationalism of the School and the creation of a powerful alumni network.

List of Double Degree Partner Graduate Schools

• Australian National University’s Asia Pacific School of Economics ,
• University of British Columbia, Sauder School of Business
• SDA Bocconi School of Management
• National University of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy
• Lancaster University Management School
• University of Nottingham
• Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations (CU-ILR)
• Duke University, Program in International Development (PIDP)
• Hult International Business School
• Hawaii Pacific University (HPU)
• Michigan State University (MS)
• New York University(NYU), Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
• Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
• Saint Louis University, College of Public Service and University Graduate School
• SUNY at Albany, Rockfeller College of Public Affairs and Policy
• The Maxwell School of Syracuse University
• University of California at San Diego (UCSD)
• University of Colorado at Denver, Graduate School of Public Affairs (GSPA)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• University of Missouri-Columbia, Harry S Truman School of Public Affairs
• University of Maryland, School of Public Policy
• University of Southern California, School of Policy, Planning & Developement
• Erasmus University Rotterdam, The International Institute of Social Studies
• Leipzig Graduate School of Management (HHL)
• Institut Superieur de Commerce Int'l de Dunkerque (ISCID)-International Institute of Commerce
• Institut Superieur de Commerce (ISC)-Master of Business Administration