Launch a career at the intersection of policy, global development, and international trade.
The Middlebury Institute Joint MA in International Policy and Development/MA in International Trade is a 60-credit program that can be completed in four semesters. It starts on our Monterey, California campus with options to be remote for your practicums.
We offer fall and spring admission for this program.
Trade can affect employment, investment, economic growth, and educational opportunities in either positive or negative ways. A degree program that combines trade and development equips students to analyze policies and design initiatives that can mitigate some of the unfavorable effects of trade policies while amplifying positive outcomes.
If you’re interested in a professional career at the intersection of development and trade, you can earn both a Master of Arts in International Policy and Development (IPD) and a Master of Arts in International Trade (ITED) in four semesters.
Your career and academic advising are integrated, ensuring you align your coursework with your career goals. Our experienced advisors will guide you from course registration to preparing for interviews, negotiating your employment offers, and managing your career.
Our large and influential alumni network in California, Washington, D.C., and other centers of international policy, development, and trade is eager to help you prepare for your next steps. Our Middlebury in DC office provides the entire Middlebury community with a wealth of resources. Furthermore, our annual Career Exploration Week in the nation’s capital gives you facilitated and direct access to D.C.-based employers and our alumni who help us to plan the event.
Starting your program in Monterey places you in Central California, the dominant import/export region in the United States, home to major agricultural firms, the international economic hub in San Francisco, and Silicon Valley. There is ample opportunity for establishing real-world connections to your academic studies.
Our graduates are often hired before they complete their program, leveraging real-world projects from their classes, internships, and practicums to showcase their relevant professional experience. They use their deep knowledge of development policy and development economics to give themselves the edge in analyst roles at think tanks, governmental agencies, and NGOs working on development and trade policy programming. They work in a range of professional capacities at the intersection of trade and development in a variety of organizations, including the following:
U.S. Government: Departments of Commerce, State, and Agriculture; U.S. Trade Representative
Banking: JP Morgan Chase, BNP Paribas, First Republic Bank, Wells Fargo, Bank of the West
NGOs: Management Systems International, Catholic Relief Services, International Center for Not-for-Profit Law
Private Business: Apple, PayPal, Salesforce, Nokia, Cisco, NEC, Mercer, Deloitte, McKinsey
If your career interests are more aligned with policy analysis, you may be interested in this Joint IPD/ITED program. If your interests are more focused on program management, the Joint MPA/ITED program would be an appropriate path.
The integrated curriculum helps you develop foundational and advanced skills in trade policy, development, and negotiation, regional expertise, and specialized trade compliance and quantitative analysis. Students gain valuable work experience by completing two professional practicums.
To open up your global career opportunities you can take content courses in a second language and/or courses in intercultural competence.
See the curriculum for more details.
You will have access to faculty members from multiple degree programs. In addition to their academic roles, many are actively engaged in international organizations including the UNCHR (the UN Refugee Agency), USAID, the World Bank, the State Department, the World Trade Organization, the U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. International Trade Commission, and the National Foreign Trade Council.
Meet the IPD faculty and the ITED faculty.
Build valuable professional experience while earning your degree through our research centers, labs, and initiatives:
Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) are encouraged to apply for the Paul D. Coverdell Fellows Program, earning yourself a guaranteed scholarship.
You can integrate Peace Corps service into your degree through our Options for Peace Corps Service, earning yourself a 50 percent tuition scholarship for your final semester.
We offer a variety of resources to make your program more affordable including merit, need-based, partner, and external scholarships for both U.S. and international students. Your personal enrollment advisor is also available to help you think through financing this important investment in your career development.
Earning two master’s degrees in just four semesters represents a significant return on your investment, setting you up for a unique career trajectory.
Learn more about scholarships, financial aid, and tuition and fees.
We take a holistic approach when considering your application, looking at your academic background, international exposure, professional experience, and career goals. We welcome applicants with or without work experience, and our program has numerous opportunities for you to gain professional experience before you graduate. This approach aligns with the Institute’s core values of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
We do not require GRE or GMAT scores for our master’s programs but competitive scores may strengthen your application and positively influence scholarship decisions.
| by Jessie Raymond
At the Human Rights Forum held at the Institute in October, language studies students, speaking in their nonnative languages, presented their research on current human rights issues, while teams of student interpreters relayed the presentations into multiple languages.
To gain a better appreciation for the important role that language can play in intercultural communication and partnership-building, we spoke with Dr. Netta Avineri, TESOL and Teaching Foreign Language Associate Professor and Intercultural Competence Committee Chair.
In response to student, alumni, and employer feedback, we are in the process of revamping three of our master’s degree programs to make them more flexible, affordable, and aligned with the key competencies desired in the market.
