Building on the core curriculum, Social Policy Program acquaints students with the relevant history and institutions, develops their quantitative skills for program evaluation and the analysis of large data sets, and helps them grapple with the moral issues raised by inequality. Two required courses (Quantitative Analysis of Policy Issues and Foundations of Social Policy) anchor flexible masters degree programs for pre-career and mid-career students who may select courses in: health; education; poverty; criminal justice; housing; and social services management. A resident faculty with nationally-renowned expertise in various fields is complemented by a broader menu of relevant course offerings across other units of the College Park campus.

Social Policy graduates have found jobs at every level of government, as well as in nonprofit and for-profit enterprises. Indeed, the School assumes that many students may, in the course of their careers, move among these realms, all of which offer significant opportunities for social policy engagement. Recent federal job placements have included: the Department of Education; the Department of Health and Human Services; and the Government Accountability Office. Other placements have included: UNICEF; the Fannie Mae Foundation; Kaiser Permanente; and the InterFaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights. Since 2000 Social Policy graduates have received nine Presidential Management Fellowships, one-third of the School's total in that period.

Quote from Chris Foreman, professor and director of the Social Policy Program:

“We are right on Washington 's doorstep, with a faculty that is intellectually serious, brimming with practical insight, and committed to students. For me personally, for example, responding to student e-mail is a top priority. When I get a query from a student I'm determined to respond ASAP. I think we owe students that. And for Social Policy students in particular, who yearn to confront the many faces of poverty and inequality, we offer necessary analytic tools and realism grounded in experience. We owe our students that too.”