Undergrads at SIPA: How Will GAPP Change the Graduate Experience?

By Liz Shelbred

In July, SIPA announced the launch of its undergraduate major, Global Affairs and Public Policy (GAPP), an interdisciplinary program open to students in Columbia College and the School of General Studies. This fall, undergraduates began entering the lottery for the inaugural GAPP cohort, which will be capped at 100 students and finalized by the spring.

In the FAQ section of the program’s website, SIPA contends that “graduate education will remain at the center of the School’s mission.” Despite such promises, Seeples are skeptical that the quality of their education will stay intact as attention shifts to the undergraduates.

The GAPP website states that the program’s students will only share select elective classes with graduate students, and that courses that require additional discussions will have undergraduate-only sections. Electives, however, tend to be smaller, which raises questions about whether undergraduate enrollment could displace SIPA students.

For some, a central concern is how the change will affect peer-learning and professional networking at SIPA. Abhishek Tiwary, a first-year MIA student, said he was initially drawn to SIPA by the diverse professional backgrounds of its students. He worries that bringing undergraduates in could diminish that strength, given that many undergraduates come to Columbia with less work experience.

“Experience accumulated across different institutions and professional settings adds something distinctive to the educational environment,” Tiwary said.

Peter Daly, a second-year MPA student, shared additional concerns about GAPP’s potential impact on SIPA’s academic rigor.

“Something that has disappointed me about SIPA so far is the maturity level of the class and how some of the coursework accommodates this,” he said. “My initial concern [about GAPP] was that mixing in an even younger group would make the issue worse.”

Daly heard similar concerns from his peers. “I’ve heard almost exclusively negative things from my classmates,” he said.

Others are more optimistic. Katrina Machetta, a second-year MIA student, sees GAPP as a chance for undergraduates and graduates to learn from one another.

“GAPP sounds like an exciting opportunity for students who want to explore these subjects earlier, but I value the greater depth and specialization that a Master's degree offers,” she said. “I think the prospect of taking classes alongside undergraduates could be equally rewarding, provided the courses maintain an appropriate level of rigor.”

When asked how SIPA will ensure that the graduate student experience remains strong, Dean Keren Yarhi-Milo told The Morningside Post that SIPA is committed to keeping graduate programs at its core, and that the major’s deliberately “modest scale” will let administrators assess its impact in real time.

Thomas Christensen, the program’s Director of Undergraduate Studies, echoed this sentiment. “We don’t foresee any weakening of the SIPA graduate student experience,” he said.

On the question of sharing graduate courses, Yarhi-Milo said that SIPA is “thoughtful and selective” about which courses it opens to GAPP students, and aims for about 70 percent graduate students in those electives. Christensen said that electives open to undergraduates will be “adapted for a mixed audience” and reviewed by the SIPA Faculty Undergraduate Major Committee and the College/GS Committee on Instruction.

Both administrators presented the major as providing new opportunities for graduate students. Yarhi-Milo said that GAPP foundation courses, which opened this fall, have already created 20 new assistantship opportunities for SIPA students, and that the program’s launch will allow SIPA to offer new courses in areas such as espionage, gender equity, and sustainability.

Yarhi-Milo noted that peer institutions, including Yale, Princeton, and Cornell, have launched similar majors through their graduate policy schools. GAPP’s structure, however, sets it apart, even amid its counterparts within Columbia. Unlike undergraduate programs at the Business and Journalism Schools, which require students to complete a primary major, GAPP is set to be a standalone major.

In addition to this unique structure, further concerns about the major’s formation, governance, and financing remain among students and faculty. Some are concerned that the program was approved without proper faculty consultation. Others suspect GAPP is tied to Columbia’s July 2025 agreement with the Trump Administration—a connection consistently denied. The major also arrives amid existing resource constraints: This fall, the credit cap was lowered from 18 to 16.5, and advising resources remains strained, even as the student body at SIPA rapidly grows. Underlying all of this is a shared sentiment among Seeples that SIPA is adding undergraduates without first addressing the strain on its existing students.

“I would want the administration to be transparent about whether GAPP students and graduate students will compete for the same limited seats in courses, whether faculty workloads will change, and what safeguards will exist to ensure that the established graduate programmes are not disadvantaged,” Tiwary said.

As the first GAPP cohort takes shape, SIPA is redefining its identity and capacity as a professional graduate school. Whether graduate students experience this shift as an enrichment or a loss will depend on how well SIPA protects its degree quality, balances access to resources and courses, and communicates as undergraduates begin to enter graduate classrooms.