The UChicago Harris Credential Programs are tailored to equip individuals with the necessary skills for either pursuing graduate school ambitions or advancing professionally. These programs enhance participants' curricula by incorporating expertise in areas such as data analytics, coding, persuasive writing, and contemporary subjects. Below are some key advantages of enrolling in a certificate program:
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Considering a graduate degree or career in social impact.
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Seeking a robust foundation in policy skills and topics.
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Passionate about joining a global network with UChicago community.
Throughout the program, participants engage with students hailing from diverse backgrounds worldwide, each bringing unique experiences and motivations for joining these programs. Whether their goal is to pursue further education or make a difference in their local communities, read on to discover inspiring stories from our alumni who have made significant strides following their experience with us.
"PRIB was a great opportunity to shape my quantitative skills to support my research points. I also appreciated that PRIB participants engaged with top leaders in policy fields. Those conversations increased my exposure to the possibilities of public policy. While I had a vision and a plan, I lacked a strategy on how to get there. PRIB provided me with knowledge, tools, and confidence needed to strategize.”
PRIB 2024, PWC 2024
“DPSS was a critical first step. Being out of an academic environment for almost a decade, I wanted to prepare for this rigorous curriculum. While DPSS was challenging, I had an extremely supportive community of classmates, TAs, and professors. DPSS was the tipping point that made Harris my number one choice.”
DPSS 2022, MPP 2025
"PWC has completely transformed the way I approach persuasion in writing, particularly its focus on moral foundations as an argument framework. It's sharpened how I structure claims, evidence, and counterarguments and given me the confidence to pursue publishing opportunities as I was hoping for when I enrolled in the class.”
PWC 2025, MA 2019
Alumni across the globe
of alumni have been very satisfied or satisfied with their overall program experience
Alumni became graduate students at UChicago Harris
Austin L. Wright is an Associate Professor and the Director of Strategic Initiatives at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. His research leverages innovative data capture techniques, massive-scale datasets, and data science tools to study a range of public policy challenges, including economic development and state fragility. His work is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Minerva Research Initiative, World Bank, United Nations, International Growth Centre, Centre for Economic Policy Research, and Becker Friedman Institute.
Shaoda Wang is an Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, and a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). He also serves as the Deputy Faculty Director of the Energy Policy Institute at UChicago, China center (EPIC-China). He is an applied economist with research interests in development economics, environmental economics, and political economy, with a regional focus on China.
Sheng-Hao Lo is an Assistant Instructional Professor at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, where he teaches core courses in Statistics, Data Analytics and Microeconomics, and has led the redesign of electives. He has a broad set of teaching and research interests in applied microeconomics and applied econometrics, with a focus on health policy.
Thomas Coleman, PhD'84, is focused on teaching students about financial markets. In 2012 Coleman returned to the University of Chicago, first as Executive Director and Senior Advisor at the Becker Friedman Institute for Research in Economics and then in 2015 as lecturer at Harris. Prior to returning to the University of Chicago, Coleman worked in the finance industry for over twenty years, with considerable experience in trading, risk management, and quantitative modeling.
Dr. Rebecca J. Wolfe is a leading expert on political violence, conflict and development. She is a Senior Lecturer at the Harris School for Public Policy at the University of Chicago, where she also is the Executive Director of the International Policy and Development area and the Academic Lead for the Master of Public Policy program. Prior to joining the faculty at Chicago, she led research and program development related to conflict and fragility at Mercy Corps, an international development and humanitarian agency.
David Chrisinger is the Executive Director of the Harris Writing Workshop, where he leads schoolwide efforts to strengthen student writing and serves as faculty lead for the Persuasive Writing Credential Program and staff lead for the Harris Core Project. He also advises the student-led Chicago Policy Review and teaches courses on trauma-informed policy communication and AI-assisted writing.