The Frederick S. Pardee RAND Graduate School is a private graduate school institution associated with the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California. The school offers doctoral studies in policy analysis and practical experience working on RAND research projects to solve current public policy problems. Its campus is co-located with the RAND Corporation and most of the faculty is drawn from the 950 researchers at RAND. The 2018–19 student body includes 116 men and women from 26 countries around the world.
History
The school was founded in 1970 as the RAND Graduate Institute. The name of the school has been changed twice. In 1987, RGI became the RAND Graduate School. In 2004, the present name was adopted to honor the contributions of Frederick S. Pardee, a former RAND researcher and philanthropist. Charles Wolf Jr. served as founding dean from 1970 to 1997 and remained a professor at the school until his death in 2016. In 2013, Pardee RAND launched the Pardee Initiative for Global Human Progress focusing on international development. The John and Carol Cazier Environmental and Energy Sustainability Initiative was started in 2014. Pardee RAND has developed partnerships with UCLA.
Academics
Pardee RAND offers the Doctor of Philosophy degree in policy analysis. The Master of Philosophy degree is awarded to students after two years of coursework and partial completion of the Ph.D. requirements. The first doctorate was awarded in 1974. As of August 2018, Pardee RAND has awarded 400 Ph.D. degrees and is the largest policy Ph.D. program in the United States. The Pardee RAND curriculum includes courses in economics, statistics, operations research, political science, and the behavioral and social sciences. Public policy courses focus on issues such as social determinants of health, education, civil and criminal justice, national security, population and demographics, and international development.
On-the-job training
Pardee RAND students gain practical experience and earn their fellowships through on-the-job training as members of RAND's interdisciplinary research teams, initially as apprentices and later in roles of increasing responsibility and independence. Students can apply to work on current projects with clients in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. RAND's research areas include children and families, education and the arts, energy and environment, health and health care, infrastructure and transportation, international affairs, law and business, national security, population and aging, public safety, science and technology, and terrorism and homeland security.
