The Graduate School of Political Management


The Graduate School of Political Management at the George Washington University is a school of political management and applied politics, strategic communications and civic engagement. Its graduates hold a variety of professional titles including campaign managers, pollsters, speechwriters, communications professionals, legislative aides and directors, candidates, lobbyists, and new media experts.
It is the only school of applied politics in Washington, D.C. The faculty trains students of all political persuasions in how to win campaigns, advance legislative goals and impact public opinion ethically.

History

GSPM was founded in 1987 as an independent graduate school chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, with the understanding that proper politics requires training.
The school's first class convened on the Manhattan campus of Baruch College. In 1991, the school opened a degree program on the urban campus of the George Washington University, in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood, just a few blocks from the White House, Capitol Hill, both major political parties and many of the top consulting, lobbying and public relations firms in the country.
The university's Columbian College of Arts and Sciences formally acquired GSPM in 1995, and in 2006, the school moved into the College of Professional Studies, where it is currently located. Designed for working professionals, classes meet in the evenings.

Campus and facilities

GSPM's programs are mainly located in three different areas of Washington, D.C.
GSPM is led by Lara Brown, a political scientist, author, and presidential appointee serving under President Bill Clinton in the Department of Education. The school is also supported and directed by a Board of Advisors, which is composed of officials and experts from varying backgrounds, including politics, media, communications and others.

Academics

GSPM offers 4 master's programs and 6 graduate certificates. The current master's programs are Political Management, Legislative Affairs, Strategic Public Relations and Comunicación Política y Gobernanza. The Political Management and Strategic Public Relations master's degrees are availably as fully online programs.
Admission criteria and tuition at GSPM vary and depend on the selected degree and courses. The school offers a range of options for financial assistance, including different scholarships.
For bachelor students in Political Science, Political Communication or Journalism and Mass Communication at the George Washington University, the master's programs at GSPM can be combined and studied as a dual degree.
Students at GSPM have a variety of worldwide short-time study abroad options, including residency courses available on five continents. GSPM offers additional courses and training from a pool of school fellows, which are experts in their field and come to serve at GSPM for 18 month terms. The school also offers professional seminars to externals.

Research centers

The Global Center for Political Management is the school's research department. It focuses on public opinion survey data through the Society of Presidential Pollsters, as well as the George Washington University Battleground Poll.
The school researches the use of social media through its Public Echoes Of Rhetoric In America Project, which uses data from Twitter to explore how campaign messages are developed and spread through social media.
GSPM is also home to the Battleground Poll, a project of national surveys conducted by pollsters Ed Goeas and Celinda Lake and the big data computational and analytic Shenkman Initiative. The school also runs the Society of Presidential Pollsters, a project which research focuses on the relationship between U.S. presidents and their pollsters. The society was founded by Mark J. Penn, a political consultant and former pollster to Bill Clinton.
Since 2013, GSPM hosts the Reimagining Disruption conference, an initiative bringing together officials to discuss the future of political communication in an era of increasing communicational conflict.

Rankings

GSPM's master's degree program in Strategic Public Relations was named PRWeek's PR Education Program of the Year in 2015.

Notable people

Alumni

GSPM has more than 4,000 alumni all around the world, representing more than 40 nations and working in government, politics, public relations and public affairs. Each year GSPM awards the Alumni Achievement Award to a number of alumni demonstrating the schools values in their careers and communities.
Notable alumni of GSPM include: